YELLOW 
MEN 

CtfJO 

OLD 


OUVERNCUR 


3   1822  01137  8155 


I II II I II  II     •  "'v-  PS 

I  II  II  *  / 

7     QH  CC  ^  --V  . 


YELLOW  MEN  AND  GOLD 


YELLOW  MEN  AND 
GOLD 


BY 


GOUVERNEUR    MORRIS 

Author  of  "  The  Voice  in  'the  Rice" 


NEW  YORK 

DODD,   MEAD    AND    COMPANY 
1921 


COPYRIGHT,  1910,  BY 
THE  RIDGWAY  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1911,  By 
DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY 


To 
JOHN   O'HARA   COSGRAVE 

MY  DEAR  COSGRAVE  : 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  accuse  you  of  having  written 
"Yellow  Men  and  Gold,"  but  if  it  had  not  been  for 
you,  the  yarn  might  never  have  got  into  print.  To 
your  long  memory  and  to  your  taste  for  adventure 
must  some  of  the  bloodshed  in  this  volume  be  laid. 
It  was  your  patience  and  judgment  that  gave  Frank 
Norris's  "  Moran  of  the  Lady  Letty  "  to  an  admiring 
world,  and  now,  as  the  saying  is,  you  must  "  pay  for 
your  fun." 

Norris  —  Morris.  Oh,  what  a  falling  off  is  there, 
my  countrymen ! 

Sir,  you  have  been  a  good  friend  to  me  —  a  wise 
friend,  a  generous  friend,  an  engaging  friend.  I  owe 
you  a  wing  of  my  house,  and  there  's  a  room  of  this 
(with  bath  and  sun,  and  a  magnolia  tree  brushing  the 
window)  which  I  propose  to  pay  back  whenever  you 
care  to  take  it  for  yours. 

My  gratitude  and  admiration  do  not  sufficiently 
show  in  the  quality  of  this  book.  Do  not  look  for 
fruit  among  the  leaves.  Believe  only  that  the  dedi 
cating  heart  is  sound. 

Faithfully  yours, 

GOUVERNEUR   MORRIS. 
AIKEN,  S.  C.,  Dec.  9,  1910. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  How  SUCCESS  RUINED  ME  ....  1 1 

II  THE  MURDER  IN  THE  GULLY  ...  19 

III  THE  SPOTTED  STONE 26 

IV  THE  CREW-MAN'S  WALLET  ....  34 
V  THE  OWNERS  OF  THE  CALLIOPE  .    .  41 

VI    I  "Do"  THE  TOWN 52 

VII    BESSIE 59 

VIII    LICHEE 67 

*     IX    BESSIE'S  STORY 73 

X  Two  SIDES  OF  A  RESCUE    ....  86 

XI    MRS.  CUNNINGHAM 94 

XII    MAGELLAN  AT  LAST 108 

XIII  CHANG  GEOLOGISES 115 

XIV  JERRY  TOP 122 

XV  SOME  OF  Us  Go  TREASURE  HUNTING  128 

XVI    THE  AMBUSH 133 

XVII    A  REPRISAI 140 

XVIII  I  RETURN  TO  THE  SHANTUNG.    .    .  147 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XIX  AN  EXCHANGE 156 

XX  GUIDING  THE  ENEMY 167 

XXI  A  RACE 175 

XXII  A  RESCUE 180 

XXIII  THE  WHITE  FLAG  AGAIN  .    ...  187 

XXIV  TERMS 195 

XXV  CARMEN  GIVES  ADVICE     .    .    .    .  210 

XXVI  AT  SEA  AGAIN 219 

XXVII  DON  PHILLIP  EMANUEL  ESQUADA  224 

XXVIII  WAITING 233 

XXIX  SPIRITS  OF  LAVENDER 238 


YELLOW  MEN   AND  GOLD 


CHAPTER 
ONE 


HOW  SUCCESS 
RUINED  ME 


As  a  schooner  among  the  South  Islands,  heel 
ing  to  the  honest  Trade,  skims  unaffectedly 
from  port  to  port,  asking  but  small  room  of  the 
sea  and  intent  only  upon  her  narrow  destiny 
and  little  interests;  so,  I  know  well,  ought  a 
narrative  of  adventure,  treasure-seeking  and 
violent  meetings  of  men,  to  start,  to  proceed 
and  to  end.  Yet  from  the  very  veraciousness 
of  those  events  about  to  be  related,  it  seems 
necessary  to  begin  cumbersomely;  as  if  the 
vessel  to  manoeuvre  were  a  three-decker,  the 
wind  baffling  and  the  channel,  between  harbor 
and  open  sea,  tortuous  and  involved.  And 
there  will  not  be  any  plain  sailing  until  well 
after  the  murder  in  the  gully  and  the  exami 
nation  of  the  crew-man's  wallet. 

I  had  determined  while  still  in  those  gawky 
teens,  from  which  so  far  as  concerns  locomo 
tion  I  shall  never  emerge,  to  be  an  author.  And 
I  wrote  from  that  period  until  my  thirtieth 
year  with  assiduous  patience  and  distinguished 
unsuccess.  I  saw  the  closest  friends  of  my 


12       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

youth  crawling  —  but  always  upward  —  upon 
the  muddy  slopes  of  banking  and  brokerage; 
coming  into  dazzling  legacies,  marrying  wealth 
ily,  and  steadily  thickening  about  the  waist. 
But  for  me  those  fifteen  years  had  been  devil 
ish  lean,  and  hard  to  bear:  hardest  to  bear 
were  the  successes  of  others  who  wrote  even 
worse  than  I;  and  I  have  thought  (oh,  in  bit 
terness  if  you  like,  and  in  envy)  that  to  be  a 
successful  author  it  is  necessary  only  to  be 
heavy,  involved,  filled  to  the  brim  with  misin 
formation,  pompous  and  prudishly  afraid  of 
naked  words. 

I  had  private  means  (the  meanest  kind)  until 
I  was  twenty-seven;  then,  luckily,  pigs  of 
mine  that  went  to  market  were  bought  by 
the  butcher,  slaughtered,  gutted,  debristled, 
adorned  with  greens  and  offered  as  honest 
pork  to  the  very  hungry.  As  the  difficulties 
of  raising  pigs  grew,  so  did  the  market  for 
them,  and  the  butchers  paid  generously  enough. 
And  I  skimped  from  the  first  of  one  month  to 
the  first  of  the  next.  But  to  have  laboured  with 
courage  and  devotion  for  fifteen  years,  to  have 
remained  in  love  during  that  whole  period  with 
all  of  life  and  with  one  girl,  and  at  the  end  of 
it  to  be  still  skimping,  must  furnish  the  stoutest 
stomach  with  the  food  of  discouragement. 


13 

During  my  thirtieth  year,  and  not  many 
months  after  a  first  real  success  with  the 
public,  I  allowed  hope  to  die  out  in  my  breast 
for  a  little  interval;  and  love,  which  is  the 
same  thing.  I  said  good-by  to  my  first  mem 
ory  of  her,  and  to  my  last;  to  that  mischie 
vous  rolling  ball  of  femininity  in  a  blue  and 
white  blanket  coat,  burbling  and  prattling,  that 
I  had  toted,  closely  hugged,  in  my  thin  boy 
arms;  to  that  later  picture  of  her,  wonder 
fully  slender,  in  frosty  white,  with  a  great 
black  hat,  and  innumerable  little  terriers  that 
dogged  her  steps  across  a  lawn  set  with  dande 
lions  (as  the  heavens  with  stars)  and  looked 
up  into  her  face.  She  had  in  one  hand  a  pair 
of  pruning-shears,  for  we  had  said  good-by, 
and  it  was  in  her  mind  to  comfort  me  \vith 
a  rose. 

As  my  train  crawled  and  halted  and  halted 
and  crawled  through  the  snow-sheds  into  Cali 
fornia,  the  magazine  containing  my  two-page 
"  Tale  of  a  Lady's  Hat  "  was  put  on  sale,  and 
I  had  not  been  a  month  in  San  Francisco  with 
out  learning  that  on  the  whole  the  world 
was  the  merrier  for  the  trifle,  and  that,  in 
the  telling  American,  I  had  "  made  a  hit." 

Believing  upon  this  earnest  that  I  could 
henceforth  and  forever  face  a  greater  em- 


14       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

barrassment  of  bills,  I  went  to  housekeeping 
in  the  little  village  of  San  Mateo.  There  was 
for  house  a  one-story  bungalo\v  that  seemed 
to  have  been  built,  walls,  roof  and  chimney, 
of  cloth-of-gold  roses  and  that  stood  in  a 
seven-eighths  acre  of  almonds  and  English 
walnuts  planted  in  alternation.  The  tiny  estate 
was  bounded  on  the  north,  or  roadside,  by 
scarlet  passion  vines  and  sweet-peas,  on  the 
east  (toward  the  village)  by  a  hedge  of  helio 
trope  eight  feet  high,  on  the  west  by  honey 
suckle  that  concealed  all  but  the  white-roses 
roof  of  Mr.  Carrol's  house,  and  on  the  south 
by  an  abrupt,  dry  and  stonily  lined  gully  that 
•had  once  been  the  San  Mateo  River,  now 
dammed  many  miles  above  to  be  a  reservoir. 
To  the  farther  side  of  the  gully  came  a  great 
screen  of  bay  trees,  live-oak,  buckeyes  and 
underwood  —  a  boundary  of  the  great  Bird 
ranch,  and  containing  in  its  immediate  midst 
the  hallowed  and  periwinkled  ground  where, 
as  the  monument  solemnly  testifies,  rested  from 

1852-1867 
The  Body  of  the  First  Bird 

(under  which  the  species  had  been  designated 
by  the  pencil  of  some  Iconoclast  as  the 
"Dodo"),  and  where  continues  to  rest,  dur- 


HOW    SUCCESS    RUINED    ME     15 

ing  the  heat  of  the  day,  a  vast  flock  of  tame 
quail. 

My  cook,  housemaid,  butler,  chambermaid, 
gardener  and  occasional  adversary  at  a  quiet 
game  of  cards  was  a  Chinaman  named  Fong, 
who  washed  himself  all  over  with  soap  four 
times  a  day,  owned  seventeen  tooth-brushes, 
and  smoked  opium  every  afternoon  from  five- 
thirty  to  six-fifteen.  He  was  a  practical,  sav 
ing  man,  and  with  my  own  eyes  I  have  seen 
quail,  of  the  Bird's  tame  flock,  cross  the  gully, 
intent  upon  a  trail  of  wheat,  hop  solemnly  up 
the  steps  into  our  very  kitchen,  and  emerge 
no  more. 

My  life,  for  some  months  wonderfully  happy 
and  hopeful,  consisted  of  hard  work  from  nine 
till  one,  leisurely  walks  back  into  the  hills, 
and  an  occasional  julep  with  my  neighbour  Mr. 
Carrol.  But  when  I  had  begun  once  more  to 
send  work  to  the  magazines,  sure  now,  after 
a  little  success,  of  a  ready  market,  life  began 
once  more  to  be  complicated.  For,  far  from 
finding  a  ready  market,  I  found  that  such  a 
market  as  I  had  had  was  gone  —  struck  from 
the  map.  One  and  all  the  manuscripts  came 
back,  and  one  and  all  the  editors  wrote  to 
the  effect  that  the  stories  were  very  well  — 
capital,  indeed  —  but  that  having  set  a  cer- 


tain  standard  by  the  "  Tale  of  a  Lady's 
Hat  "  I  must  live  up  to  it.  "  Readers  all  over 
the  country,"  wrote  one  editor,  "  are  infatu 
ated  by  that  blissful  little  story,  ourselves  have 
laughed  over  it  till  we  cried,  and  cried  till  we 
laughed.  They  want  more  —  just  like  that, 
and  you  can  give  them  more  —  if  you  only 
will." 

At  first  such  letters  made  me  furious;  for 
I  neither  could  write  another  tale  like  that 
of  the  "  Lady's  Hat,"  nor  wished  to.  But 
when  I  realised  finally  that  my  wares  were 
become  absolutely  unsalable,  though  of  better 
quality,  I  think,  than  many  which  I  had  man 
aged  to  sell  before,  helpless  fury  yielded  by 
inehes  to  an  empty  feeling  of  despair.  Here 
was  I,  no  longer  a  beginner,  but  a  man  of  let 
ters,  who  had  at  least  had  his  success,  and  who, 
instead  of  being  assembled  and  set  up  thereby, 
had  been  broken  and  cast  aside. 

A  time  came,  and  with  swift  strides,  when 
I  was  unable  to  pay  my  bills.  And  there  is, 
I  think,  no  mental  torture  so  cruel  as  that  — 
even  to  the  half-wav  honest.  Nor  could  I 

wf 

think  (and  I  had,  I  thank  God,  the  courage  to 
try)  of  any  other  business  upon  which  I  could 
embark  and  make  a  living.  I  was  over  six 
feet  high,  but  without  an  ounce  of  strength, 


HOW    SUCCESS    RUINED    ME     17 

thin  as  a  rail  and  grotesquely  awkward;  pro 
digiously  wanting  in  mathematics  and  all  the 
other  branches  of  common  sense.  I  had 
worked,  and  failed ;  I  had  loved,  and  lost ;  and 
still  I  had  the  vain  wish  to  hold  up  my  head 
in  the  world,  while  I  should  remain  in  it,  and 
to  pay  my  bills.  It  \vas  evident  that  I  must 
face  my  creditors  one  at  a  time,  and  humble 
myself  with  explanations  and  promises,  and 
upon  that  thought  I  lay  awake  for  whole  nights 
and  writhed.  It  was  also  evident  that  common 
honesty  demanded  that  I  turn  such  talents  as 
I  possessed  prostitute,  and  write  tales  as  nearly 
like  that  of  the  "  Lady's  Hat  "  as  despair  and 
necessity  could  manage.  Once  a  sharp  stickler 
for  the  proprieties,  I  have  never,  since  those 
hard  days,  sat  in  thoughtless  judgment  upon 
women  who  walk  the  streets. 

Yet  I  was  in  worse  plight  than  I  knew,  for 
having  decided,  and  taken  comfort  from  the 
decision,  that  if  my  talent  must  play  the  light 
woman  it  should  be  cheerfully,  I  visited  an 
oculist  in  the  city  to  be  refitted  with  working 
glasses,  and  learned,  out  of  an  absolutely 
clear  sky  in  that  direction,  that  if  I  did  not 
leave  books,  writing  and  indoor  confinement 
very  strictly  alone  for  a  year  or  more,  I  might 
go  blind. 


18       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

I  staggered  out  of  that  devil's  office  with 
hope  dead  in  me,  and  love;  and  alive  only  a 
kind  of  wild  hatred  of  God  and  man,  and  the 
most  unmanly  and  childish  self-pity  and  de 
spair.  I  think  I  was  the  most  self-centred 
wreck  that  ever  went  from  San  Francisco  to 
San  Mateo  (and  there  must  have  been  many 
after  the  great  earthquake).  I  think  I  could 
have  trampled  upon  a  sick  child  if  one  had 
thwarted  me.  But  I  hope  not. 

I  did  not  at  once  enter  the  bungalow,  fear 
ing  to  face  the  light,  or  to  see  myself  in  a 
mirror,  but  shambled  aimlessly  among  the  wal 
nut  and  almond  trees,  until  finally  I  stood  upon 
the  edge  of  the  gully,  with  half  a  thought  to 
cast  myself  head-first  upon  the  stones  at  the 
bottom.  Had  the  height  been  sixty  feet  and 
sure  death,  I  would  have  done  so.  But  it  was 
a  scant  thirty  —  tempting  but  uncertain.  And 
I  fancied  myself  half-dead  only,  among  the 
stones,  a  moaning  failure  in  suicide  as  in  life. 
It  is  not  sure  if  I  moaned  aloud  or  not ;  but  it 
is  sure  that  something  did  moan  at  the  bottom 
of  the  gully;  and  I  started  back  in  a  terror  the 
more  unreasonable  if  you  consider  that  I  was 
in  the  very  midst  of  hobnobbing  with  self- 
slaughter. 


CHAPTER 
TWO 


THE  MURDER 

IN 
THE  GULLY 


THE  silhouette  of  Fong  upon  the  drawn  shade 
of  the  kitchen  window  (in  the  very  act  of 
brushing  his  teeth)  was  like  a  reinforce 
ment.  I  shouted  loudly  for  him;  then  sat 
down  on  the  edge  of  the  gully,  slung  my  legs 
over  and  slipped  and  scrambled  to  the  bottom. 
It  was  too  dark  down  there  for  definite  per 
ceptions;  and  as  the  moaning  had  ceased,  I 
stood  still  and  at  a  loss.  Nor  was  it  until  the 
light  of  Pong's  lantern  shone  suddenly  into 
the  place  that  I  found  my  very  next  step  must 
have  been  upon  the  body  of  a  man. 

The  heart  in  the  body  was  beating;  but 
when  Fong  had  descended  and  brought  the 
lantern  close,  dreadful  stabs  were  disclosed 
in  its  stomach  and  chest,  and  the  stones 
among  which  it  lay  were  amuck  with  blood. 
I  was  not  experienced  in  these  realities,  but 
I  perceived  the  approach  of  death  as  distinctly 
as  that  of  an  embodied  person. 

"  Fong,"  I  said  excitedly,  "  go  back  home 


20       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

quick-step  and  telephone  doctor  and  police 
man!" 

Fong  touched,  with  a  finger  like  the  stem 
of  a  much  smoked  clay  pipe,  a  pocket  that 
had  been  turned  inside  out. 

"  Dam  much  rob !  "  he  said  and,  turning, 
made  the  precipitous  ascent  with  astonishing 
alacrity. 

Even  while  attempting  to  plug  with  my 
handkerchief  what  seemed  the  deepest  and 
bloodiest  stab,  I  saw  that  every  one  of  the 
man's  pockets  had  been  turned  inside  out, 
and  the  tail  of  my  eye  caught  the  face  of 
a  gold  repeater  lying  between  the  stones,  and, 
nearer  the  body,  that  of  Washington  from  the 
midst  of  a  greenback.  Even  in  those  confused 
seconds  it  struck  me  as  odd  that  these  things 
should  have  been  left  behind,  if  the  crime,  as 
the  inside-out  pockets  suggested,  had  robbery 
for  its  motive.  I  had  packed  the  half  of  my 
handkerchief  into  the  wound,  with  my  fore 
finger,  as  you  pack  tobacco  into  a  pipe,  when 
suddenly  the  man's  eyes  came  open  and  he  said 
in  a  wild  voice: 

'  Take  it  easy,  boys  —  they  've  cracked !  " 

And  he  struggled  to  raise  himself. 

It  will  show  the  state  of  mind  that  I  was  in 
to  record  that  I  asked  him  if  he  was  hurt. 


THE    MURDER    IN    THE    GULLY    21 

But  the  idiotic  query  seemed  to  steady  him, 
and  slowly  and  painfully  he  brought  his  eyes 
to  a  focus,  until  they  rested  on  my  face. 

"  Don't  know  you,"  he  said  quietly.  .  .  . 
"Thanks"  .  .  . 

I  bent  close  to  him  and  said  as  clearly  as  I 
could : 

"Who  did  it?" 

"Oh,  hell!"  he  said;  but  in  the  merest 
whisper.  "  Cut  it  out.  They  got  me  ... 
it 's  up  the  gully  under  a  spotted  stone  .  .  . 
it 's  yours,  my  friend,  don't  know  your  name. 
.  .  .  Don't  let  them  get  it.  ...  Burn  all  pa 
pers  in  the  wallet  except  it  — "  With  that 
the  reason  went  clean  out  of  his  eyes,  and  he 
rose,  easily  and  lightly,  to  a  sitting  position, 
and  turning  his  head  as  if  he  saw  some  one, 
spoke  in  the  most  sarcastic,  wearied  drawl : 

"  Harvey,"  he  said,  "  you  are  n't  supposed 
to  be  helping  yourself  to  ice-cream  .  .  .  you 
are  supposed  to  be  rowing  number  three  in  the 
Yale  boat "...  and  then,  but  in  far  crisper 
tones,  a  note  of  deep  regret  in  them :  ' '  Just  as 
you  say,  Mr.  Cook  —  "  His  eyes  closed  and 
his  head  rolled  over  on  his  breast,  but  to  be 
raised  once  more  with  a  kind  of  splendid  bold 
alertness. 

"  Give  way !  "  he  cried  in  a  great  voice,  and 


22       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

toppling  gently  over  on  his  side,  his  soul  slipped 
from  him  and  was  soon,  perhaps,  in  old 
Charon's  boat  pulling  out  from  the  Stygian 
shore. 

While  I  waited  with  the  dead  man,  my 
neighbour,  Mr.  Carrol,  attracted  doubtless  by 
that  great  shout  of  "  Give  way,"  came  to  the 
edge  of  the  gully. 

'  That  you,  Parrish  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Come  down,"  I  said.  '  There  's  been  a 
murder." 

Carrol,  a  thick-set,  fattish  great  man,  de 
scended  with  difficulty  and  sharp  breathing. 

"That's  hell,  isn't  it?"  he  said. 

"  For  some  person  or  persons  —  yes,"  I  said. 

''  Was  he  dead  when  you  got  to  him  ?  " 

"  Not  quite,"  I  said.  "  He  lived,  perhaps, 
four  minutes  after  I  found  him." 

"Stuck  him  in  the  stomach,  didn't  they?" 
said  Carrol.  "My!" 

He  knelt  by  the  corpse  and  felt  of  the  upper 
arms,  thighs  and  calves. 

"  Lusty  brute,  was  n't  he  ?  " 

"He  wasn't  a  brute,"  I  said;    "he  was  a 
gentleman  and  he  rowed  in  the  Yale  boat  - 
when    Bob    Cook    was    coach.      He    said    as 
much  - 

"Said?"  exclaimed  Carrol,  his  eyes  round 


THE    MURDER    IN    THE    GULLY    23 

with  astonishment.  '  Did  he  say  who  did 
it?"  He  snapped  the  question  at  me  like  a 
whip.  But  I  interpreted  his  tone  as  that 
natural  to  a  good  citizen  upon  an  occasion  of 
crime. 

"  No,"  I  said. 

Carrol  passed  the  back  of  his  hand  across 
his  forehead. 

"Too  bad!  "he  said  mildly. 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  too  damned  bad!  " 

"Did  he  talk  sense?"  asked  my  neighbour 
suddenly.  "  Or  rave?  " 

:<  Why,"  said  I,  "  some  of  it  sounded  like 
sense,  but  it  was  n't  about  sensible  things." 

"  No  dying  messages,  I  suppose  ?  Just  what 
did  he  say  ?  " 

"  Nothing  important,  I  fancy,"  said  I. 
"  Something  about  thanking  me  for  trying  to 
help  him." 

"  Dying  men,"  said  Carrol,  "  sometimes 
say  very  interesting  things  —  especially  those 
that  have  lived  rough  —  as  this  poor  cuss  has 
—  seems  to  have,"  he  corrected  himself. 

And  I  thought  to  myself  that  what  the  dying 
crew-man  had  said  about  the  wallet  under  the 
spotted  stone  was  extremely  interesting,  and 
much  too  interesting  to  be  divulged  to  the  first 
questioner.  Indeed  the  secret,  if  it  was  a  se- 


24      YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

cret,  or  anything  but  raving,  had  been  given  to 
me  for  my  very  own,  as  God  could  witness,  and 
if  it  was  worth  giving  it  was  possibly  worth 
keeping.  So  much  I  perceived  logically  in  my 
unstrung  and  nervous  state  of  mind. 

"  At  first  glance,"  Carrol  broke  in  upon  my 
reflections,  "  it  looks  like  ordinary  robbery  — 
but  see  that  watch  and  that  greenback.  It 
looks  as  if  something  particular  had  been 
wanted  —  does  n't  it  ?  " 

"  Just  what  I  think,"  said  I. 

"  I  wonder  what?  "  Carrol  mused. 

I  thought  that  I  could  have  given  Carrol 
information  on  the  point.  I  was  mistaken. 
For  at  that  very  moment  Carrol  knew  more 
about  the  contents  of  the  crew-man's  wal 
let  than  I  did.  But  what  he  did  know, 
much  as  that  was,  was  not  sufficient  for  his 
purposes.  He  sighed,  and  looked  for  a  long 
time  into  the  dead  man's  face. 

"  How  unnecessary,"  he  said  presently, 
"  how  damned  unnecessary!  " 

By  some  unaccountable  freak  of  rigor  mor 
tis  the  crew-man's  eyes  suddenly  opened  as  if 
worked  by  springs,  and  Carrol  jerked  himself 
backward  as  if  he  had  been  struck  at. 

Talking  seemed  more  comfortable  than  si 
lence  in  the  presence  of  the  staring  eyes,  and  I 


THE    MURDER   IN    THE    GULLY    25 

said,  trying  to  pitch  my  voice  in  its  natural 
key: 

"  Lucky  this  is  n't  the  Middle  Ages,  Carrol. 
You  know  they  believed  that  a  corpse  bled  in 
the  presence  of  its  murderer,  and  opened  its 
eyes,  and  went  through  all  sorts  of  dumb- 
crambo  accusations." 

"  I  never  heard  of  the  eye  part,"  said  Carrol, 
and  he  drew  a  deep  breath. 

"  Yes,"  I  said.  "  But  just  before  the  eyes 
opened  a  lot  of  blood  welled  suddenly  out  of 
one  of  those  cuts.  It  nearly  gave  me  a  fit  — 
I  thought  for  a  second  it  was  something  alive. 
It  looked  like  a  mouse  coming  out  of  its  hole." 

"Don't  say  that  sort  of  thing!"  said  Car 
rol.  "  I  'm  feeling  pretty  sick  as  it  is.  I  want 
to  scream  and  run  away."  A  great  spasm 
went  through  him  from  head  to  foot.  And 
he  tore  his  hat  from  his  head  and  covered  the 
dead  man's  face. 


CHAPTER     III 

THE   SPOTTED    STONE 

THE  early  morning  saw  me,  so  recently  a 
candidate  for  suicide,  striking  up  the  dry  bed 
of  the  San  Mateo  River  from  the  spot  where 
the  murder  had  been  done;  my  eyes  peeled, 
as  the  saying  is,  for  spotted  stones;  and  hope 
once  more  alive  in  my  breast.  Indeed,  I  had 
withdrawn  so  far  from  absolute  despair  as  to 
be  in  a  whirlwind  of  school-boy  spirits.  My 
imagination  had  been  wildly  at  work  during 
the  night  upon  the  wallet  and  its  contents. 

"  Burn  all  the  papers  but  It"  the  crew-man 
had  said. 

"  It,"  then,  if  actual  money,  might  be  a  bill 
of  large  denomination ;  but  with  that  the  imag 
ination  would  not  rest.  A  valuable  patent  had 
suggested  itself,  or  a  valuable  principle  to  be 
patented;  the  location  of  a  rich  gold  mine,  or 
a  coal  mine.  Something,  anyhow,  that  was 
worth  doing  murder  for.  On  the  other  hand, 
for  a  dampener,  the  reason  that  suffices  one 
murderer  is  not  sufficient  to  the  next.  Some 
men  will  kill  for  a  few  dirty  dollars ;  some  only 


THE    SPOTTED    STONE  27 

for  many  bright  thousands;  and  some  again 
if  merely  to  put  the  final  quietus  upon  the 
tongue  of  a  nagging  wife.  I  tried  to  hold  my 
desires  in  check,  and  kept  reiterating,  "  A 
couple  of  thousand  will  help  —  just  a  couple 
of  thousand."  But  they  would  not  be  so 
snubbed  and,  together  with  that  ray  of  hope 
that  had  been  rekindled  in  my  breast,  were 
ever  dancing  like  mad  among  the  millions. 

The  ancient  river-bed  was  thickly  laid  with 
stones  and  contained  more  than  one  that  was 
spotted.  Indeed,  had  every  spotted  stone  that 
I  turned  over  concealed  a  dollar  bill,  I  must 
soon  have  lost  interest  in  the  crew-man's  wal 
let.  I  had,  I  think,  pictured  the  particular  stone 
wanted  as  greenish  black,  very  thickly  and 
regularly  overlaid  with  white  polka-dots,  and 
flattish ;  yet  it  might  be  a  white  stone,  spotted 
with  black;  or  it  might  be  shaped  like  a 
boulder  or  a  pyramid.  Whatever  its  shape, 
size  or  appearance,  however,  I  was  determined 
to  find  it,  following  the  river-bed,  if  necessary, 
all  the  stumbly  miles  to  the  reservoir  and  back. 
But  it  was  aching,  hard  work,  and  I  was  very 
sharp  with  Providence  for  having  supplied  me 
with  so  weak  and  awkward  a  frame  and  with 
so  cowardly  a  pair  of  lungs.  The  more  so  that 
there  was  nothing  wrong  with  them  but  a 


28       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

chronic  aversion  to  doing  their  work  cheer 
fully  in  the  world.  I  could  not  dog-trot  it  for 
a  city  block  without  their  losing  all  ambition 
and  flying  into  a  passion  of  protest.  Indeed, 
coming  suddenly  upon  a  hundredweight  stone, 
yellowish  and  darkly  spotted  like  the  hide  of  a 
leopard,  I  was  obliged  to  put  off  the  moment 
of  turning  it;  and,  instead,  sat  upon  it,  for 
it  looked  a  soft  comfortable  stone,  and  rested. 

The  banks  of  the  gully  were  at  this  point 
of  a  negligible  height  and  clothed  with  a  dense 
but  not  tall  vegetation  of  scrubby  buckeyes, 
nightshade  and  riotous  wild-grape  vines;  and 
a  little  above  where  I  sat,  and  a  little  below,  the 
gully  itself  turned  off  sharply;  so  that  I  occu 
pied,  as  it  were,  the  centre  of  a  stony  open 
space  in  the  midst  of  a  forest. 

Now  this  same  weakness  of  limb  and  lung 
which  so  handicapped  my  quest  was  to  prove 
instrumental  in  its  safe  accomplishment;  for 
had  I  turned  over  the  stone  upon  which  I  sat 
when  I  wished  to,  instead  of  waiting  till  I 
could,  I  must  have  been  discovered  in  the 
very  act  by  my  neighbour,  Mr.  Carrol,  who 
came  now  suddenly  into  view  around  the 
upper  bend,  at  a  very  slow  pace,  his  small 
bright  eyes  ranging  penetratingly  among  the 
stones. 


THE    SPOTTED    STONE  29 

"  Hallo!  "  said  I,  when  he  had  drawn  near. 
He  started  violently,  as  indeed  the  most 
innocent  person  might  have  done  under  the 
circumstances,  and  made  the  familiar  gesture 
of  passing  his  hand  across  his  forehead  with 
out  actually  touching  it.  But  he  pulled  him 
self  together  almost  at  once,  and  seating  him 
self  near  me,  "Hot,  isn't  it?"  he  said,  and 
flung  off  his  hat  and  ran  his  fingers  through 
his  hair. 

"  Scientific  people,"  said  he,  "  believe  that 
somewhere  on  this  peninsula  there  is  a  vein  of 
coal.  I  sometimes  take  a  day  off  and  go  bota- 
nising  after  it." 

"  It 's  like  me,"  said  I ;  '"  I  have  been  geol 
ogising  for  wild  flowers.  And  I  'm  quite 
blown,  thank  you." 

"  By  the  way,"  he  said,  "  I  'm  expecting 
some  odd  characters  to  lunch;  would  you 
care  to  look  them  over,  with  your  constant 
view  to  fiction? ' 

"  I  'd  like  to  look  in  after  lunch,"  I  said. 
"  What  are  they  —  anarchists  like  last  time?  " 

Carrol  grinned. 

"  I  do  have  the  damnedest  friends,  don't  I  ?  " 
said  he.  "  No,  these  are  three  young  bummers, 
and  one  of  them  —  Lynch  —  has  got  hold  of  a 
schooner,  for  a  bad  debt;  the  other  two  have 


30       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

chipped  in  a  little  money,  and  they  've  made  up 
their  minds  to  cruise  the  Gulf  of  California 
for  ambergris  and  pearls."  He  shot  a  quick 
glance  at  me.  ''  Fancy,"  he  said,  "  they  've 
got  a  diving-suit!  " 

'"'  Have  they?"  said  I  innocently.  He  had 
taken  a  shot  at  me,  I  learned  later,  but  had 
missed  the  mark,  easy  though  it  was. 

"  The  funniest  part,"  he  went  on,  "  is  this. 
I  'm  going  with  them." 

''You  don't  mean  it!"  I  exclaimed,  for  I 
had  regarded  Carrol  as  a  sensible  matter-of- 
fact  man,  above  any  childish  impulse. 

"  Why,"  said  he,  with  a  frankness  that  was 
attractive  in  him,  "  I  'm  so  dead  broke  I  can't 
see  straight,  and  I  'm  so  fat  I  can't  walk 
straight,  and  I  'm  so  down  on  my  luck  that 
I  can't  think  straight." 

:'  I  have  always  pictured  you,"  said  I,  "  on 
the  very  verge  itself  of  prosperity." 

"  I  am,"  he  said,  "  always  all  that  and  never 
anything  more.  Of  course  I  don't  believe  in 
the  pearl  and  ambergris  part  of  the  trip,  any 
more  than  I  believe  that  a  beautiful  woman," 
he  smiled  ruefully,  "  could  learn  to  love  me 
for  my  shape  alone;  but  I  do  believe  that  sea 
food  and  sea  air  and  especially  sea  work  would 
make  a  new  man  of  me  —  a  slim  godlike  man." 


THE    SPOTTED    STONE  31 

"  Like  me,"  said  I,  "  with  chuckle  knees  and 
a  backache  and  a  pair  of  bellows  that  can  just 
put  a  candle  out  at  the  fifth  blow." 

:<  Besides,"  said  Carrol,  "  I  owe  a  lot  of 
dirty  little  bills,  and  they  fidget  me.  You  '11 
look  in  after  lunch,  then?" 

I  nodded,  and  he  rose. 

"  Are  you  going  any  farther  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  I  think  yes,"  said  I.    "Why?" 

'  Why,"  said  he,  "  I  seem  to  have  lost  my 
wallet.  It 's  too  much  bother,  and  I  have  n't 
time  to  go  back  and  look  for  it,  on  the  chance. 
Still  I  want  it,  for  old  sake's  sake." 

"  What  sort  of  a  wallet  is  it?  "  I  asked. 

"  My  dear  man,"  said  Carrol,  "  you  speak 
as  if  you  expected  to  find  fifty  wallets.  But 
mine  is  to  be  recognised  by  the  fact  that  it 
contains  absolutely  no  money  —  and  a  few 
letters  that  you  may  read  if  you  wish,  but 
which  will  make  you  think  the  worse  of  me. 
They  are  from  a  beautiful  woman,"  he  ex 
plained,  "  who  loves  me  when  I  have  money." 

Then  with  a  cheerful  "  So  long!  "  he  waved 
a  pudgy  hand  and  was  soon  out  of  sight  around 
the  lower  bend. 

I  was  now  rested,  and  rose  to  the  work  of 
turning  over  the  stone  upon  which  I  had  been 
sitting.  By  good  fortune,  for  my  strength 


32       YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

was  not  up  to  the  task,  it  was  not  deeply  bedded 
and  had  a  convenient  ledge  for  the  hands  to 
grip;  and  at  the  very  first  tug  it  came  half 
over  —  and  I  let  go,  with  a  startled  gasp,  and 
it  dropped  back  into  place. 

The  finding  of  a  snake  so  close  to  my  hand 
would  have  produced  an  effect  upon  me  very 
similar  to  that  caused  by  an  actual  sight  of 
that  which  I  sought.  And  for  some  moments 
I  could  not  make  the  further  effort  necessary 
to  gain  possession  of  the  crew-man's  wallet, 
but  stood  aloof  from  the  stone,  wholly  out  of 
breath,  and  with  a  wildly  beating  heart. 

Then  once  more  I  bent  to  it,  and  this  time 
turned  it  over  —  and  saw  the  wallet,  released 
from  pressure,  expand  like  a  live  thing  that 
draws  a  deep  breath. 

I  noted  only  that  it  was  of  pigskin,  darkly 
stained  by  age  and  sweat;  and  then,  you  will 
guess,  I  lost  no  time  in  going  through  its 
contents ! 

But  you  have  guessed  wrong;  for  with  the 
issue  in  my  very  hands,  I  had  not  at  that  mo 
ment  the  heart  to  face  it.  My  highest  hopes 
seemed  to  crowd  about  and  implore  me  to  wait. 
Thus  when  at  Christmas-time  a  boy  receives 
an  envelope  directed  in  the  writing  of  his  rich 
uncle,  he  does  not  at  once  open  it,  but  exults 


THE    SPOTTED    STONE  33 

awhile  with  the  hope  that  the  check  it  con 
tains  will  be  double  that  of  the  year  before, 
so,  instead  of  going  through  with  the  business 
then  and  there,  I  slipped  the  wallet  into  my 
inside  pocket  and  buttoned  my  jacket  over  that 
which,  in  moments  of  supreme  excitement,  I 
am  pleased  to  call  my  chest. 


CHAPTER   IV 
THE  CREW-MAN'S  WALLET 

I  TOOK  out  the  wallet  in  my  bedroom,  having 
bolted  the  door,  and  shook  the  contents  of  its 
various  pockets  upon  the  bed.  The  inventory 
follows : 

1.  A  part  of  an  envelope,  unaddressed  and  scrawled 
over  with  telephone  numbers ; 

2.  A  whole  envelope,  blank,  but  not  very  clean ; 

3.  An  elastic  band ; 

4.  A   much   soiled    square   of   chewing-gum,    make 
and  flavour  unknown ; 

5.  A  fish-hook,  with  the  point  broken  off; 

6.  A  copy   of  amatory   Spanish   verses  in  a  swift 
female  hand; 

7.  A  French  two-franc  piece; 

8.  A  slip  of  paper,  with  a  design  in  pencil,  neatly 
executed  for  an  elaborate,  but  undecipherable,  mono 
gram; 

9.  An  old  joke  cut  out  of  a  newspaper,  and 

10.  and  last,  the  half  of  a  dime,  cut  clean  off  as  by 
a  pair  of  shears. 

You  will  imagine  that  I  made  sure  to  have 
overlooked  nothing  before  I  flung  the  wallet 


THE    CREW-MAN'S    WALLET     35 

disgustedly  on  the  floor  and  gave  way  to  a 
fit  of  contemptuous  laughter.  I  had,  indeed, 
builded  my  hopes  very  high,  and  to  have  their 
fanciful  structure  fall  so  grotesquely  flat  was 
nothing  less  than  sickening.  Yet,  unwilling  to 
accept  defeat,  I  once  more  went  through  the 
wallet,  turning  its  pockets  literally  inside  out 
and  poking  my  long  fingers  into  the  crevices 
and  along  the  seams.  So  violent  and  angry 
was  the  search  that  I  tore  the  rotten  leather  in 
places,  and  it  was  from  between  the  edges  of 
such  a  tear  that  I  perceived  suddenly  a  portion 
of  paper  surface  criss-crossed  with  the  mi 
nutest  of  writing  in  the  blackest  of  ink.  Nor 
could  I  doubt  that  I  had  uncovered,  by  an 
eleventh-hour  accident,  that  mysterious  "  It  " 
which  had  cost  the  crew-man  his  life. 

The  paper,  on  being  extricated,  proved  a 
rectangular  slip  of  a  thin  and  shiny  manu 
facture,  six  inches  long  by  five  inches  wide. 
It  had  been  folded  lengthwise  once;  the 
double  leather  between  two  of  the  compart 
ments  of  the  wallet  had  been  ripped  along  the 
seam  to  receive  it  and  resewed  with  perfect 
fidelity  to  the  original  thread  and  to  the  needle- 
holes.  As  for  the  writing,  with  which  both 
sides  of  the  paper  were  closely  crossed,  it 
was  miraculously  even,  and  so  fine  as  to  re- 


36      YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

quire  for  decipherment  a  reading-glass;  and 
one  far  stronger  than  I  possessed  would  have 
made  the  task  far  easier. 

One  whole  side  of  the  sheet,  and  all  but  a 
few  lines  of  the  other,  was  covered  by  an  in 
ventory  list  of  articles  of  value;  with  the 
following  note  at  the  beginning: 

Translation  of  original  inventory,  now  in  the  Royal 
Library,  Madrid,  of  articles  of  gold,  silver,  etc.,  con 
signed  by  Pizarro,  from  Peru,  in  the  galleon  Espiritu 
Santo,  to  the  King  of  Spain. 

The  inventory  as  a  whole  read  like  some 
wild  fiction,  but  I  have  not  here  the  space  to 
set  it  all  down.  Here  are  a  few  items,  chosen 
at  random: 

3.  Small  box  of  emeralds,  carved  in  imitation  of 
roses ; 

7.  A  palace  wainscoting  of  gold,  laid  upon  wood ; 

8.  A  mortar  and  pestle  of  gold ; 

18.  A  little  tree  of  gold  hung  with  jewelled  fruits ; 
23.  A    gold    door,    cunningly    carved    with    bestial 
scenes ; 

29.  Two  Peruvian  princesses,  fifteen  years  of  age; 

30.  Six  great  chests,  containing  their  raiment  and 
jewels; 

33.  An  Inca's  head  in  a  cask  of  spirits ; 

37.  Eight  thousand  pound  of  gold,  cast  into  ingots; 


THE   CREW-MAN'S    WALLET     37 

38.  Eight  thousand  pounds  of  silver,  cast  into 
ingots ; 

50.  One  great  chest,  containing  divers  golden  vessels, 
ewers  and  services. 

And  at  the  very  end  of  the  long  inventory 
was  the  following  priceless  information: 

The  Espiritu  Santo  was  lost  in  shoal  water  off  a  vol 
canic  rock  or  islet  that  lies  in  latitude longitude . 

Fragments  of  the  vessel  may  be  discerned  by  the  use 
of  a  marine-glass,  in  the  midst  of  the  cove  at  the  North 
west  corner  of  the  islet,  and  much  of  the  treasure  might 
be  recovered  by  the  use  of  a  diving-suit  and  a  little 
patience.  Written  this  —  —  day  of  -  —  in  the 

prison  of  Sing  Sing  for  my  only  friend  in  this  world, 
Roy  Cunningham.  If  my  memory  has  played  tricks 
with  me,  Roy,  it  is  only  to  the  extent  of  an  item  or  two 
in  the  inventory.  The  latitude  and  longitude  is  O.  K. 
Pray  for  my  horned  soul,  and  God  bless  you!  This 
time  to-morrow  I  shall  be  —  where  ?  And  you,  per 
haps,  on  your  way  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan.1 

I  think  a  man's  imagination  must  be  a 
spiritless  nag  not  to  be  set  galloping  by  such 
a  spur.  Mine,  I  know,  went  a-flying  to  the 

1  The  treasure  route  from  Peru  to  Spain  was  by 
way  of  Panama  in  Pizarro's  day.  But  the  case  of  the 
Espiritu  Santo  goes  to  show  that  there  must  have  been 
some  knowledge  of  Magellan's  Strait,  prior  to  Ma 
gellan's  discovery.  —  J.  P. 


38       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

closing  scenes  of  the  great  Inca's  life  (and 
very  white  they  looked  against  their  black  and 
amber  background  of  Spanish  lies  and  treach 
ery).  I  saw  as  in  a  stage  drop  the  bearded 
Spanish  men  staggering  up  the  galleon's  gang 
ways  under  the  chests  of  ingots  and  gems ; 
the  cask  with  the  Inca's  head,  lightly  handled, 
like  a  sample  of  the  new  country's  pickles  for 
the  Sovereign.  The  golden  door  with  its 
bestial  carvings;  that  exquisite  little  tree  of 
gold  with  its  jewelled  fruits ;  and  those  jewelled 
fruits  the  little  brown  princesses,  ripe  for  the 
plucking,  with  their  round  eyes  full  of  wonder ; 
and  I  sailed  with  the  labouring  galleon  in  the 
heel  of  the  trades,  with  the  unknown  seas 
upon  the  one  hand  and  the  unknown  mountains 
upon  the  other;  and  sailed  from  under  the 
bright  skies  into  a  moaning,  gray,  dripping 
region;  and  saw  the  waves  broken  and  sub 
dued  among  the  monstrous  seaweeds  of  Ma 
gellan;  and  the  ravines  filled  with  dark  and 
sombre  forests;  and  for  a  moment,  cleared  of 
mist  and  fog,  the  eternal  snows  low  upon  the 
mountains ;  and  saw  the  gull  and  the  albatross 
loafing  into  the  storm  blast;  and  heard  the 
thunder  of  breakers ;  and  felt  in  my  very  soul 
that  earthquake  sickening  shock  when  the  gal 
leon  struck ;  and  felt  her  sink  beneath  my  feet, 


THE   CREW-MAN'S    WALLET     39 

and  go  down,  with  her  colossal  treasure,  and  the 
princesses,  locked,  perhaps,  in  each  other's 
arms,  poor  kids,  and  with  the  whole  of  her 
hell-bound  crew. 

No,  not  the  whole  of  it ;  for  there  must  have 
been  one  at  the  least  to  escape  with  the  bear 
ings  of  where  the  tall  galleon  lay.  And  I  fol 
lowed  him  more  vaguely,  and  pictured  him 
suddenly  struck  dead  for  his  secret,  as  the 
crew-man  had  been  struck  in  the  gully.  And 
I  came  swiftly  down  the  hundreds  of  years  with 
the  secret,  and  the  intriguings  for  it,  and  the 
bloody  murders  and  the  wild  passions  that  it 
must  have  loosed  —  came  down,  indeed,  to  the 
reality  of  the  little  bedroom  in  which  I  was 
pacing  like  a  wild  animal ;  and  there  my  imagi 
nation  stuck  fast.  For  I  could  no  more  think 
out  a  logical  way  to  lift  the  treasure  from  that 
far-away  floor  of  the  sea  than  I  could  fly. 
Who  could  capitalise  the  weak-bodied,  spirit 
less  author  or  trust  him  to  raise  from  the  deep 
that  treasure  which  had  defied  the  men  of 
action  these  many  hundred  years? 

I  soon  saw  that  I  was  in  no  condition  at  that 
time  to  focus  upon  rational  issues ;  so  I  slipped 
the  crew-man's  legacy  beneath  the  carpet; 
burned  as  directed  such  papers  as  the  wallet 
contained,  and  the  wallet  itself;  bathed  my 


40       YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

flushed  face  again  and  again  with  cold  water; 
had  a  snack  of  lunch  (it  was  now  half-past 
two  o'clock)  and  started  over  to  Mr.  Carrol's 
house,  to  hear  the  talk  and  make  the  acquain 
tance  of  his  adventurous  friends. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE   OWNERS    OF    THE   CALLIOPE 

As  I  turned  the  corner  of  his  house  I  met 
Carrol  stepping  off  the  bowery  porch,  his 
arms  filled  with  bottles  of  beer,  and  his  face 
flushed. 

"  Parrish,"  said  he,  "  we  're  out  under  the 
big  buckeye  celebrating.  Take  some  of  these, 
there  's  a  dear  man !  .  .  .  Since  I  saw  you  - 
I  relieved  him  of  a  portion  of  the  bottles,  and 
we  proceeded  toward  the  great  buckeye  from 
the  other  side  of  which  came  the  sound  of  glee 
ful  chuckles.  "  Since  I  saw  you,"  Carrol  re 
peated,  "I  have  sold  the  old  homestead;  a 
man  and  his  wife,  lungers,  I  fancy,  dropped 
in  out  of  the  golden  East  -  -  Noo  Yok  —  they 
said,  I  fancy  it  is  in  Persia  —  and  took  one 
good  look  at  Fat  Carrol's  house  and  lot  and 
bought  them  out  of  hand.  Hence  the  celebra 
tion.  It 's  the  smooth  moneys  that  are  to  be 
paid  over  in  the  morning  that  have  made  Fat 
Carrol  so  happy  and  free  from  care.  Gentle 
men  —  "as  we  rounded  the  sweeping  branches 
of  the  buckeye  and  came  upon  a  group  com- 


42       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

posed  of  three  live  civilians  and  some  twenty 
or  thirty  dead  soldiers,  as  the  saying  is  — 
"  let  me  present  Mr.  Parrish  —  not  Max,  the 
pictator  —  but  James,  the  merry-companion 
author  of  the  'Tale  of  a  Lady's  Hat/  Mr. 
Parrish,  Mr.  Joseph  Lynch,  commonly  known 
as  *  Nine  Points  of  the  Law  '  —  or  '  Ten  Pins ' 
for  short.  Mr.  Paul  Granger  Craven,  the  well- 
known  amateur  pugilist,  and  Mr.  Willing 
Todd,  the  pet  of  the  natatorium  and  the  Co 
lumbus  of  the  Poodle  Dog  and  the  Barbary 
Coast." 

The  gentlemen  were  all  in  the  thirties,  I 
guessed,  with  the  exception  of  Carrol,  who 
had  the  look  of  a  youthful  fifty;  and  I  have 
never  sat  down  to  beer  with  a  more  cheerful 
and  debonair  quartet.  They  were  vulgarians, 
if  you  like,  the  type  that  shaves  the  back  of  the 
neck  and  selects  in  conversation,  when  there 
are  many  names  for  a  spade,  that  which  is  the 
least  agreeable  to  the  ear,  though  often  the 
most  connotative  to  the  mind.  They  had  a 
kind  of  clannish  humour,  as  if  they  had  spent 
much  of  their  lives  in  various  unities  of  inter 
est;  and  I  could  not  but  admire,  and  indeed 
envy,  the  elation  of  spirits  into  which  the  ap 
proaching  project  of  their  adventure  threw 
them.  Yet  I  detected,  too,  beneath  their  habit 


THE  OWNERS  OF  THE  CALLIOPE    43 

of  turning  the  issue,  whatever  its  nature,  into 
a  joke,  a  kind  of  underlying  vein  of  stubborn 
determination,  a  kind  of  ready-at-need  quality 
that  led  me  to  think  them  the  very  types  of 
man  best  suited  to  a  catch-as-catch-can  enter 
prise.  And  I  thought  them  honest  as  men  go, 
with  a  distinct  preference  for  giving  the  odds 
and  seeing  fair  play.  And  this  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  for  the  more  exquisite  relations  in 
nature  they  had  no  more  regard  or  respect 
than  so  many  dogs.  They  had  planned,  for 
instance,  casually  and  as  a  matter  of  course, 
to  take  a  couple  of  women  upon  the  cruise; 
and,  listening  to  the  argument  upon  which  the 
plan  was  abandoned,  I  heard  many  shrewd 
phrases  of  expediency,  but  not  so  much  as 
one  word  against  the  morals  of  the  thing. 

"  We  '11  just  have  to  grin  and  bear  the 
times  when  they  would  n't  have  been  in  the 
way,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Willing  Todd,  and  he 
tilted  the  tag-ends  of  a  beer  bottle  into  his 
mouth. 

"  And  when  we  get  back,"  Craven  mollified 
himself  for  the  disappointment  which  the  de 
cision  had  cost  him,  "  with  pearls  and  amber 
gris  and  shark-fins,  you  '11  hear  the  breakers 
roar  along  the  Barbary  Coast !  " 

They  made  so  light  of  the  serious  sides  of 


44       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

the  adventure,  and  so  sure  of  its  nebulous 
sides,  that  from  the  first  I  saw  myself  sailing 
with  them  in  spirit;  and,  in  spite  of  that  al- 
locative  document  hidden  beneath  the  carpet 
in  my  bedroom,  the  approximateness  of  their 
quest  —  the  schooner  provisioned  in  the  har 
bour,  and  manned;  Carrol's  bills  about  to  be 
paid;  indeed,  the  fact  of  the  thing  made  me 
lose  sight  for  the  time  being  of  the  more  allur 
ing,  if  remote,  aspects  of  my  own  undigested 
adventure.  Indeed,  I  was  thrown  into  such 
an  envy  and  restlessness  by  their  tale  that 
twice  I  was  on  the  point  of  saying,  "  Come, 
gentlemen,  make  me  a  partner  with  you,  and 
we  shall  sail  —  not  for  the  Gulf  of  California 
—  but  for  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  and  I  shall 
tell  you  why !  " 

And  I  fancied  excusing  myself,  and  reap 
pearing  with  the  memorandum  of  treasure, 
and  flinging  it  like  a  bomb-shell  into  their 
midst.  It  must  be  that  my  face  had  upon  it  an 
envious  and  excited  expression;  for  Carrol, 
who,  I  noticed,  attended  with  the  most  flat 
tering  attention  whenever  I  spoke,  suddenly 
clapped  his  hand  heartily  upon  my  knee.  And, 

"  Parrish,"  said  he,  "  chuck  your  troubles 
and  come  along!  " 

His  voice  had  in  it  a  kind  and  friendly  ring. 


THE  OWNERS  OF  THE  CALLIOPE    45 

"  Oh,  I  could  n't,"  I  said  quickly  and  a  little 
nervously.  '"'  I  could  n't  very  well  run  away, 
owing  money  right  and  left." 

"  Now  look  here,"  he  said,  "  we  need  another 
man." 

"  But  not  me,"  said  I.  "  I  can't  contribute 
anything;  and  I  'm  abjectly  useless." 

"  If  I  said,  then,"  said  Carrol,  "  that  dur 
ing  our  little  talks  across  the  fence  and 
our  little  visits  and  all,  I  had  grown 
fond  of  you,  Parrish,  you  would  n't  believe 
me?" 

I  cannot  deny  that  I  was  flattered  and 
moved. 

"  Look  here,"  he  said,  "  take  a  bit  of  a 
walk." 

We  rose,  and  he  thrust  his  arm  through 
mine  and  led  me  away.  The  others,  it  seemed 
to  me,  had  exchanged  glances;  but  I  laid  it  to 
their  wish  to  express  that  Carrol  had  drunk 
too  much  beer. 

"  Now,  Jim,"  said  Carrol,  "  let  me  say  first 
that  your  face  is  an  open  book  and  that  I  can 
read  what 's  passing  in  your  mind  —  when  it 
is  n't  above  my  level.  If  you  can  deny  that 
you  're  in  deep  trouble  and  at  your  wit's  end, 
you  're  a  damned  liar  —  "  He  pressed  my 
arm  affectionately. 


46      YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

"  Well,  then  I  am,"  I  blurted  out.  "  I  can't 
sell  my  stuff,  I  owe  money,  and  the  doctor  says 
I  must  live  in  the  open  air  away  from  books 
or  take  my  chances  of  going  blind." 

We  walked  a  little  farther  without  saying  a 
word;  yet  Carrol  kept  talking  to  me  by  that 
firm  pressure  on  the  arm. 

"  Well,"  he  said,  after  a  while,  "  what 's  the 
matter  with  the  cruise  of  the  Calliope  for 
open  air?  " 

;<  Even  if  I  could  pay  my  bills  and  go,"  said 
I,  "  I  'd  be  a  burden." 

"  Not  you,  Jim,"  said  Carrol.  And  after 
another  pause,  "  What  do  you  owe?  "  he  asked. 
And  I  told  him.  He  swore  profanely. 

"  Good  God!  "  he  said,  "  you  've  looked  the 
liabilities  of  a  Trust  Co.,  while  you  've  only 
incurred  those  of  an  apple  woman.  My  dear 
dear  boy,  say  you  '11  come,  and  out  of  the 
money  I  'm  to  be  paid  to-morrow  I  '11  -fix  you 
up." 

"You  will?"  I  said. 

"  Sure,"  said  he. 

"  Carrol,"  I  said,  greatly  moved,  "  it 's  won 
derful  to  find  such  kindness  among  strangers, 
in  a  far  place.  But  the  kindness  sha'n't  be  all 
on  one  side.  Your  cruise  is  the  chanciest  kind 
of  a  thing —  isn't  it?  What  if  I  can  lay  a 
better  course  for  you  all;  what  if  I  can  tell 


THE  OWNERS  OF  THE  CALLIOPE    47 

you  where  a  Spanish  treasure  ship  lies  in  shoal 
water  - 

I  ought  then  and  there  to  have  realised  my 
folly,  for  Carrol  drew  such  a  breath  as  a  man 
draws  on  reaching  the  surface  of  the  water 
after  being  half  buried  in  the  depths.  But  he 
had  himself  so  quickly  in  hand  again  that  1 
suspected  nothing. 

"  You  have  n't  drunk  too  much,  have  you?  " 
he  said  humorously. 

"  You  remember,"  I  said,  "  you  asked  me 
what  the  murdered  man  said  before  he  died? 
Well,  I  did  n't  tell  you.  Can  you  guess  why 
he  was  murdered  ?  " 

"  Who  —  I  ?  "  Carrol  seemed  startled,  and 
I  laughed. 

"  He  was  murdered  for  the  secret  of  the 
treasure  ship;  but  he  had  hidden  it.  And  I 
found  it." 

"  Now  calm  down,"  said  Carrol,  "  and 
switch  to  simple  language." 

"  Come  into  my  house,"  I  said,  "  and  we  '11 
let  the  facts  do  the  talking." 

While  Carrol  was  going  over  the  crew-man's 
legacy  through  my  reading-glass,  he  got  redder 
and  redder  in  the  face.  He  looked  giddy,  and 
again  and  again  passed  a  hand  across  his  fore 
head.  Yet  his  only  comment  from  start  to 


48       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

finish  was  a  kind  of  shocked  reiteration  of  the 
phrase  "  Just  x-cuse  me  —  Just  x-cuse  me !  " 

But,  having  finished,  he  rose,  and  banged 
his  fist  upon  the  table. 

"  My  God!  "  he  said,  "  my  God!  " 

"  Do  you  think,"  I  ventured,  "  that  maybe 
there  's  nothing  in  it?  " 

'  Think,  Lucky  Penny,  old  boy  —  think  — 
no  —  I  don't  —  I  can't!  But  I  '11  tell  you  one 
thing.  Whoever  did  one  murder  for  that, 
would  do  another  quick  as  winking!  " 

"  Good  God!  "  I  said,  "  I  had  n't  thought  of 
that!  But  no  one  knows  I  have  it  but  you, 
Carrol." 

"  How  do  you  know  —  nobody  knows  ? 
Don't  you  suppose  they  know  you  were  the 
first  man  to  be  on  the  scene?  The  papers  had 
it  —  don't  you  suppose  you  've  been  watched 
and  marked  ever  since  ?  My  God,  Jim,  you  've 
got  a  nerve !  " 

He  picked  up  a  savage-looking  kris  that  I 
used  for  opening  letters,  and  fell  to  testing  the 
point  with  his  thumb;  but  his  thought  seemed 
far  from  the  business. 

'  There  's  nothing  to  prevent  one  of  them 
walking  into  this  bungalow  to-night  and  stick 
ing  that  into  you,  my  boy !  "  And  he  flung  the 
ugly  thing  sharply  back  among  the  litter  on 


THE  OWNERS  OF  THE  CALLIOPE    49 

the  table.  I  noticed  that  he  was  very  white; 
and  I  thought  the  pallor  flattering,  as  showing 
the  sharpness  with  which  my  possible  danger 
affected  him. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  you  put  together  what 
things  you  can  carry  in  a  couple  of  suitcases, 
and  you  go  straight  up  to  Frisco,  take  Fong  to 
help  you,  and  you  go  to  the  Palace,  and  you 
keep  in  the  palm-room  where  there  is  always 
a  crowd;  until  I  come!  Don't  have  anything 
to  do  with  any  one  you  don't  know." 

"  And  how  about  my  affairs  in  this  town?  " 
I  said. 

"  Get  your  bills  together,"  said  he,  "  and 
leave  them  with  me." 

Being  orderly  by  habit,  I  had  them  ready  in 
a  neat  packet,  which  Carrol  thrust,  with  a  nod, 
into  his  pocket. 

"  But  do  you  really  think  I  'm  in  danger  ?  " 
I  asked. 

"  Jim,"  he  said  earnestly,  "  you  bet!  When 
a  man  's  got  the  wealth  of  Ormus  and  of  Ind 
in  his  clothes  he  's  in  danger,  and  you  may 
take  pen  and  ink  and  write  it  down." 

I  glanced  involuntarily  into  the  corners 
and  out  of  the  windows  of  the  peaceful  and 
familiar  room. 

"  Was  that  poor  cuss  in  the  gully  ever  in 


50       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

danger,  Jim  ? "  said  Carrol.  "  I  ask  you. 
Now  do  as  I  say !  " 

"  Indeed  I  will,"  said  I,  with  a  kind  of  cow 
ard  eagerness.  "  But  I  'm  glad  you  're  in  the 
know,  Carrol,  because  I  'm  an  innocent,  and  it 
never  would  have  entered  my  head  that  any 
one  but  the  butcher  or  the  baker  had  it  in  for 
me." 

'  Jim,"  said  Carrol,  "  we  '11  come  for  you 
about  seven-thirty,  in  the  palm-room,  mind; 
and  we  '11  make  a  body-guard  until  we  get  you 
safe  aboard  the  Calliope."  He  turned  to  go, 
but  returned  upon  a  thought. 

"  Look,"  said  he,  "  Will  I  tell  the  boys  now, 
or  later  when  we  're  all  aboard  ?  It 's  for  you 
to  say." 

"  Oh,"  said  I,  "  later,  when  we  're  under 
way  —  don't  you  think  —  and  surprise  them, 
good!" 

'  You  bet,"  said  Carrol,  and  he  smiled 
broadly.  '  But  what  a  child  you  are." 

Again  he  turned  to  go,  and  once  more  came 
back. 

"  We  've  got  to  keep  pretty  well  together," 
he  said,  "  but  I  'm  afraid  the  boys  are  for  mak 
ing  a  night  of  it  —  liquor  and  ladies,  and  all 
that  —  you  see  it 's  their  last  night  ashore, 
and  you  see  —  ' 


THE  OWNERS  OE  THE  CALLIOPE    51 

"  I  don't  judge  for  others,"  I  said.  "  But 
that  's  reason  enough  for  not  telling  them  — • 
till  later." 

"Right,"  said  Carrol,  "and  you  and  I'll 
eschew  the  bottle  and  keep  the  bunch  in  hand 
if  we  can." 

He  left  me,  and  I  went  at  my  work  of  se 
lection  and  packing  with  an  ardour  not  dimin 
ished  by  the  thought  that  those  who  had  not 
stopped  at  one  murder  would  not  balk  at 
another.  But  it  heartened  me  some  to  hear, 
now  and  again,  through  the  open  window7  the 
bursts  of  laughter  from  the  jolly  companions 
under  the  buckeye  tree.  Indeed,  one  burst  of 
it,  not  long  after  Carrol  must  have  rejoined 
them,  was  so  heartfelt  and  contagious  that  in 
the  midst  of  folding  a  blue  flannel  shirt  I  burst 
out  laughing  myself. 

But  if  I  had  known  what  the  joke  was,  at 
which  I  laughed  with  so  much  enjoyment,  the 
hour  of  seven-thirty  would  not  have  seen  me 
impatiently  waiting  in  the  palm-room  of  the 
Palace  Hotel  for  the  appearance  of  Carrol 
and  the  joint-owners  of  the  Calliope. 


CHAPTER 
SIX 


I  "DO" 
THE  TOWN 


ALL  cities  are  cities  of  dreadful  night.  Yet 
if  palms  were  awarded  for  being  dreadful,  I 
think  the  first  would  be  flung  at  the  feet  of 
San  Francisco.  I  had  often  delighted  to  deal 
firmly  in  fiction  with  what  I  fancied  to  be  the 
darker  sides  of  life.  And  I  had  hung  a  little 
upon  the  outskirts  of  vice,  dined  in  its  least 
notorious  restaurants  or  drunk  my  cocktail 
across  its  outer  bars.  But  of  wickedness,  of 
which  I  had  thought  myself  not  the  least  pierc 
ing  observer,  I  knew  until  the  later  hours  of 
that  night,  nothing.  And,  oh,  the  faces  and 
the  jargon  and  the  dark  places  and  the  thirsts 
and  the  lechery  that  I  saw  that  night  as  in  a 
hideous  revelation  —  a  crowd  of  half  living, 
half  putrid  maggots  feeding  like  mad  things 
upon  the  very  guts  of  the  city!  Vice  I  saw 
without  the  gilding;  and  learned  the  abyss 
between  what  is  not  respectable  and  what  is 
lost. 

Nor  was  I  happy  in  thinking  that  my  com 
panions  for  the  voyage  should  have  thought 


I    "DO"    THE    TOWN  53 

that  the  scenes  through  which  they  passed 
me  would  —  oh,  not  please  me,  perhaps, 
but  appeal  strongly  to  my  sense  of  the 
picturesque. 

"  Let 's  have  a  look  at  Sky's,"  one  would  say. 
"  Parrish  ought  to  see  that."  Or  "  Let 's  show 
him  the  Sink,"  or  the  like.  To  my  shame  be  it 
said  that  I  had  not  the  face  to  say  that  I  was 
displeased  and  unhappy.  And,  sick  at  heart, 
I  suffered  myself  to  be  led  from  one  abomina 
tion  to  the  next.  You  will  hear  it  said  that 
such  an  experience  has  it  value.  But  I  think 
not.  I  should  like  to  see  at  once  very  much 
less  reticence  in  the  world  —  and  very  much 
more. 

As  we  "  did  "  the  town  —  ripe  for  damna 
tion  —  my  three  younger  showmen  became 
gradually  drunk.  And  I  myself,  to  keep  up 
heart,  had  taken  more  than  I  was  accustomed 
to  or  could  well  "  carry,"  as  the  saying  is. 
Indeed,  I  recollect  being  pulled  away  from  a 
haggish  young  woman  whom  I  had  suddenly 
accosted  at  the  corner  of  a  street  and  was  ex 
horting  to  lead  a  better  life.  And  I  was  very 
sharp  with  Carrol  for  interfering  with  my  ef 
forts  to  do  a  little  good  in  the  world,  and  would 
have  broken  from  him  and  gone  back  to  renew 
the  sermon  had  I  not  heard  the  woman  calling 


54       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

upon  Carrol  to  "  hide  that long- 
legged  spider  or  she  'd  cut  its  heart  out." 

"  Come  along,  Jim,"  said  Carrol,  "  you  're 
drunk." 

"  I  'm  not,"  said  I,  "  not  in  the  least.  I  was 
never  more  rational  in  my  life.  You  can  start 
any  argument  you  like  and  see  if  I  'm  not,  to 
prove  it." 

"  I  don't  give  a  whoop  if  you  are  or  not," 
said  Carrol. 

I  tried  to  answer  him,  but  gave  it  up  owing 
to  a  sudden  and  wearisome  thickening  among 
my  vocal  cords.  And  I  fell  to  counting  just 
how  many  drinks  I  had  had,  and  then  was 
startled  to  think  that  so  very  few  should  have 
had  so  grave  an  effect  upon  me;  for,  in  addi 
tion  to  the  thickening  sensation  among  the 
vocal  cords,  my  feet  had  become  terribly  heavy, 
and  my  limbs  as  if  made  of  fluids.  "  Surely," 
I  thought,  "  six  or  more  drinks  of  whiskey 
could  n't  do  it!  "  And  I  wanted  to  ask  Carrol's 
opinion,  and  could  not.  I  came  to  a  dead  halt, 
with  Lynch  laughing  and  holding  me  by  one 
arm,  and  Carrol,  with  a  kind  of  expectant  ex 
pression,  holding  me  by  the  other.  Craven  and 
Todd  faced  me,  flushed  and  wild-eyed. 

"  Well,"  said  Carrol  gently,  "  let 's  put  him 
aboard." 


I    "DO"    THE   TOWN  55 

I  tried  to  say  that  I  thought  the  last  drink 
must  have  been  drugged,  was  conscious  of  a 
frightful  wild  beating  of  my  heart,  as  of  a 
caged  bird  struggling  to  escape ;  I  felt  a  hand 
slide  into  the  breast  of  my  jacket,  and  knew  no 
more. 

I  must  have  been  senseless  as  a  bale  of  goods 
for  a  long  time ;  and  must  have  slept  naturally 
for  many  hours  after  the  effects  of  the  sopo 
rific  drug  had  passed  off;  for  I  woke,  rather 
than  came  to,  feeling  less  wretched  than  may 
be  supposed,  and  clear  in  mind.  Yet  not  so 
clear  as  I  thought;  for  I  imagined  myself 
to  be  lying  in  the  open  air  upon  a  sidewalk; 
and  for  a  long  time  neither  the  complete  dark 
ness  nor  the  occasional  strong  lifting  under 
me  and  falling  away  of  the  pavement  seemed 
unaccountable.  Nor  did  I  realise  for  a  long 
time  that  the  hot,  close  air  could  not  by  any 
magic  be  related  to  the  inspiring  draft  of  a 
San  Francisco  street  at  night. 

But  at  last  it  became  evident  to  a  jaded 
and  illogical  understanding  that  I  was  shut 
up  somewhere,  in  an  unventilated  place  that 
rose  and  fell  quietly,  as  the  breast  rises  and 
falls  in  deep  breathing;  and  upon  that  realisa 
tion  came  rapidly  other  evidences  —  smells  of 


56       YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

bilge-water,  of  caulking  and  marine  stores  — 
that  I  was  upon  a  ship  at  sea. 

The  adventure,  then,  had  begun.  The  Calli 
ope  was  southing;  I  had  been  put  aboard  in 
a  senseless,  drunken  condition,  and  now  Carrol 
and  the  others  would  be  laughing  at  me  to  my 
face.  I  had  wakened  with  the  suspicion  that 
Carrol  himself  had  done  the  drugging,  and  that 
it  was  his  hand  that  had  slipped  inside  my 
jacket  and  relieved  me  of  the  crew-man's 
legacy.  But  I  thought  now  that  the  drugging 
must  be  attributed  to  my  own  weak  head,  and 
the  picking  of  my  pocket  to  Carrol's  natural 
wish  to  see  the  document  in  more  responsible 
keeping.  Yet  my  friends,  too  drunk  them 
selves,  perhaps,  had  not  stowed  me  comfort 
ably;  or  if  they  had  laid  me  in  a  bunk,  I  had 
tumbled  out  of  it.  While  I  lay  thus,  desul 
torily  ruminating,  there  opened  suddenly,  half 
a  dozen  feet  above  my  head,  a  hatchway,  and  I 
saw  bent  over  the  brightly  illumined  square  a 
yellow  Chinaman,  naked  to  the  waist.  I  lay 
blinking  at  him. 

For  two  seconds,  perhaps,  the  Chinaman 
did  not  move  a  muscle.  Then  suddenly  he 
whipped  out  a  bright  long  knife  from  some 
where,  caught  it  horizontally  between  his  teeth 
and,  before  I  could  move  hand  or  foot  in  self- 


I    "DO"    THE    TOWN  57 

defence,  had  dropped  through  the  hatch  and 
was  kneeling  heavily  upon  me.  Yet  murder 
ously  as  he  had  come  to  me,  he  did  not  offer 
to  strike.  He  seemed,  indeed,  relieved  to  find 
so  unresisting  an  object  to  his  prowess,  and 
presently,  lifting  his  face  skyward,  commenced 
to  shout  in  a  kind  of  shrill,  high  sing-songing. 
Other  yellow^  faces  appeared  soon  in  the  hatch 
way,  and  the  light  was  practically  shut  off  by 
the  massing. 

There  was  a  great  interchange  of  swift  jab- 
bery;  and  then  the  Chinaman  that  knelt  upon 
me  rose  and  motioned  me  to  rise  also.  Seeing 
me  to  be  scarce  able  to  stand  alone,  yellow 
hands  reached  downward  and  helped  me 
through  the  hatch.  And  I  found  myself  in  a 
kind  of  ship's  forecastle,  the  centre  of  a  group 
of  a  dozen  Chinamen,  half  naked  and  barefoot. 
I  say  a  kind  of  forecastle,  for  though  the  place 
occupied  the  usual  wedge-shaped  space  in  the 
vessel's  bows,  and  was  lined  with  tiers  of  bunks, 
it  had  about  it  a  garish  and  Oriental  look ;  for 
the  curtains  to  the  bunks  were  of  showy,  if 
coarse,  embroidery;  a  big,  brass,  squatting 
god  glowed  between  the  butts  in  the  bow,  and 
the  deck-beams  and  planking  were  one  strug 
gling  mass  of  dragons;  an  inimitable  compo 
sition,  in  Chinese-blue,  scarlet  and  orange. 


58       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

Also  there  was  an  effect  about  the  place  of 
fluttering  papers;  and  I  learned  afterward 
that  these  were  prayers,  mucilaged  wherever 
piety  could  find  a  place  for  them.  And  for 
the  rest,  that  forecastle  smelt  as  no  white 
man's  forecastle  smells;  here  was  no  odour  of 
mildew  and  sour  swreat,  but  a  clean  pungent 
odour,  a  hint  of  incense,  or  joss-sticks,  perhaps, 
a  hint  of  camphor  and  pepper. 

From  the  forecastle  I  was  helped  to  the 
ship's  deck;  and  there,  what  with  the  bright 
ness  of  the  sun,  the  overpowering  freshness 
of  the  sea  air  and  the  emptiness  of  my  stomach, 
for  all  the  world  like  a  young  lady  whose  stays 
are  drawn  too  tight,  I  fainted  dead  away. 


CHAPTER 
SEVEN 


I  CAME  to,  lying  upon  a  doubled  quilt,  in  the 
shadow  cast  by  the  mainsail  and  faced  so  that 
I  could  see  far  off  the  purple  hills  of  California 
sliding  astern.  The  same  Chinaman  that  had 
drawn  the  knife  was  sitting  on  his  heels  beside 
the  quilt  and  offering  me,  in  a  blue  and  white 
bowl,  a  fluid  mixture  of  water  and  soft  boiled 
rice.  How  good  it  tasted !  Or  rather  felt,  for 
my  insides  burned  like  the  pipes  in  a  boiler. 
Nor  could  I  take  my  lips  from  the  bowl  to  ask 
where  Carrol  was  until  I  had  gulped  the  half 
of  its  contents. 

"  Callol,"  said  the  Chinaman,  with  an  amused 
and  tolerant  smile,  "  no  sabe  Callol  —  Bessie 
come  soon  —  him  very  fine  talkee  womans." 

"Bessie?"  I  said  idiotically.  "What 
Bessie?" 

;'  Him  come  now,"  said  the  Chinaman.  He 
scrambled  to  his  feet,  and  with  a  sudden  nod 
ding  smile  and  open-hand  gesture,  indicated 
me  to  some  one  and,  turning,  went  softly 
forward. 


60       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

"  Well  of  all  the  skinnics !  "  said  a  woman's 
voice,  and  I  tried  to  rise.  But  was  pushed 
down  again  by  the  shoulder. 

"  Take  it  easy,"  she  said,  and  came  around 
where  I  could  see  her  and  seated  herself  in  a 
matter-of-fact  way  on  the  quilts  at  my  feet. 

She  was  no  beauty  (though  young)  and  in 
clined  to  be  overweight.  But  there  was  a 
certain  comeliness  about  her,  of  colouring  and 
of  fine  black  eyes  that  twinkled  amazingly. 
Her  hair  hung  in  two  very  thick  but  not  very 
long  braids,  and  was  coarse  but  of  a  lovely 
brown  colour,  with  lighter  streaks  due  to  sun 
burn,  and  very  shiny;  her  face  was  broadish, 
the  features  inclined  to  be  thick;  but  she  had 
an  expression  of  well-being  and  joviality  that 
were  mighty  pleasant  to  the  eye.  For  costume 
she  had  a  blue  serge  skirt  spotted  by  sea-water, 
a  kind  of  dressing-jacket  of  Chinese  cut  and 
material;  and  little  else  I  fancy;  certainly 
neither  shoes  nor  stockings. 

"  I  'm  Bessie,"  she  said,  "  that 's  all.  Who 
are  you  ? " 

"  My  name  is  Parrish,"  I  said,  "  and  I  'm 
part  owner  of  the  Calliope." 

"  What 's  that?  "  said  Bessie. 

"  Why,"  said  I,  "  is  n't  this  the  Calliope?" 

"This?"  she  exclaimed.     "This  schooner? 


BESSIE  61 

Not  on  your  life.  This  jolly  boat  is  the  Shan- 
tung.  And  your  hall-marks  say  '  stowaway  ' 
plain  as  day.  And  the  Shantung  Company 
would  like  to  know  how  you  came  to  be  in 
the  forward  storeroom  ?  " 

"  As  to  that,"  I  said,  though  very  much 
bewildered,  "  I  was  put.  Are  there  no  white 
men  on  this  ship  ?  " 

"  Not  a  one  but  you,"  said  she. 

"  Then,"  said  I,  "  I  was  drugged  and  robbed 
and  shunted  off  where  I  could  do  no  harm  and 
tell  no  tales."  Indignation  rose  and  I  found 
the  strength  to  sit  up;  and  I  plunged  into  my 
bad-luck  story  at  a  speed  that  produced  upon 
Bessie  a  look  of  complete  bewilderment. 

She  interrupted  good-naturedly. 

"  I  '11  tell  you,"  she  said,  "  just  where  you 
are.  And  you  can  dope  out  how  you  got  here. 
The  Shantung  belongs  to  those  who  work  her 
—  just  thirteen  of  'em,  and  she  sailed  yester 
day  morning  in  hardware  for  Peru  to  trade 
in  miscellanies.  Now  what 's  that  to  you?  " 

"Yesterday  morning!"  I  cried.  "Have  I 
been  in  that  hole  all  that  time?  No  wonder 
I  'm  done  up." 

"It's  wonderful  it  didn't  kill  you,"  said 
she. 

"  As,"  said  I,  "  it  was  probably  meant  to," 


62       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

And  again  I  began  my  story,  but  with  more 
clarity  and  less  speed.  And,  though  intend 
ing  to  reserve  the  parts  that  concerned  the 
lost  galleon,  I  had  soon  told  Bessie  the  whole 
of  it. 

"  But,"  she  said,  when  I  had  done,  "  if  there 
was  all  that  treasure,  and  you  told  them  where 
it  was,  why  would  n't  they  take  you  along  and 
let  you  share?  " 

"  That 's  what  I  don't  get,"  said  I.  "  There 
seems  to  be  millions  of  treasure,  and  there  were 
only  five  of  us;  and  it  was  I  that  found  out 
where  the  stuff  wras." 

:c  Well,"  said  Bessie,  "  some  men  are  so 
mean  you  can't  understand  it  at  all." 

"  I  would  n't  wonder,"  I  said,  "  if  it  was  n't 
so  much  meanness  as  just  plain  thinking  I  'd 
all  the  time  be  in  the  way.  And  I  dare  say 
that 's  right.  You  see  I  'm  not  up  to  much 
hard  work,  and  I  'm  not  very  practical." 

"  And  I  don't  see  why  they  put  you  on  board 
the  Shantung.  It  was  a  dead  easy  thing  to  do, 
because  we  all  were  ashore  at  a  wedding  in 
Chinatown,  and  perhaps  that 's  the  reason.  It 
would  have  been  a  cinch  to  knock  you  on  the 
head  and  stuff  you  into  a  manhole,  or  to  just 
drop  you  overboard  and  whack  you  once  with 


an  oar." 


BESSIE  63 

'They  were  all  pretty  drunk,"  I  said;  "at 
least  I  think  so,  and  maybe  they  did  n't  quite 
know  what  to  do  with  me;  and  maybe  they 
thought  they  were  perpetrating  a  joke."  I 
smiled  dismally,  but  Bessie  shook  her  head. 

'  They  hoped  you  'd  smother  yourself  in  the 
storeroom,"  she  said.  ''  Don't  see  why  you 
did  n't ;  and  they  thought  maybe  your  death 
would  be  fixed  on  us.  And  that 's  one  for  your 
fat  Carrol.  But  say,  what  about  this  treasure  ? 
That  all  sounds  like  gibberish." 

I  had  to  go  pretty  deeply  into  early  Spanish 
explorations  and  the  conquest  of  Peru  before 
she  understood;  and  then  she  said: 

'''  Well,  if  your  address  was  bona  fide,  you  Ve 
played  in  dirty  hard  luck  to  lose  it.  But  I  don't 
see  what  you  can  do  about  it." 

"  Oh,"  said  I,  "  the  paper  itself  does  n't 
matter,  Miss  Bessie." 

"  Guess  you  'd  better  say  Mrs.  Bessie,"  said 
she. 

"  Beg  pardon,"  I  said,  "  I  will.  I  Ve  got  the 
paper  pretty  well  by  heart.  Indeed,  I  don't  do 
anything  well  except  remember  things." 

"You  remember  the  bearings?"  she  asked, 
and  I  repeated  them  for  her. 

"About  where  is  that  on  the  map?"  she 
said. 


64      YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

"  Why,"  said  I,  "  I  did  n't  look  at  it,  but  it 's 
not  far  from  the  Straits  of  Magellan;  maybe 
in  the  Straits  themselves,  but  south  of  them, 
I  think;  off  Terra  del  Fuego,  I  think." 

"  Do  you  believe  in  it?  "  she  asked.  "  In  the 
treasure,  I  mean  ?  " 

"  Mrs.  Bessie,"  I  said,  "  the  crew-man  be 
lieved  in  it ;  his  murderers  believed  in  it ;  Car 
rol  and  his  gang  believed  in  it;  and,  as  I  feel 
like  a  played  out  dish-rag,  there  's  not  much  to 
prevent  me  believing  in  it." 

She  thought  a  while. 

"  Nor  me,"  she  said  finally,  and  looked  land 
ward  for  some  moments,  fro\vning  thought 
fully  and  pursing  her  lips.  Presently  her  brow 
smoothed  and  she  turned  once  more  to  me. 

'''  If  you,"  said  she,  "  were  willing  to  go 
shares,  share  and  share  alike,  I  might  get  the 
company  to  take  the  matter  up.  If  we  make 
a  good  dicker  in  Peru,  and  are  feeling  pretty 
flush,  it  might  just  appeal  to  the  company  to 
take  a  chance,  and  again  it  might  not." 

'  You  mean  the  Shantung  Co.  ?  "  I  asked. 
'  This  ship,  in  other  words  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  "  and  the  kid,  and  me." 

"Do  you  belong  to  the  company?"  I 
asked. 

"  Why,  yes,  I  do,"  she  said. 


BESSIE  65 

"And  the  kid?  "I  asked. 

'  That 's  Lichee,"  said  she,  and  she  smiled 
at  the  thought  of  him.  "  He  's  not  awake  yet, 
the  lazy  little  beggar.  But  when  he  is  awake 
Mr.  —  Parrish,  did  n't  you  say?  —  he  '11  be 
good  company  for  you."  She  leaned  toward 
me  confidentially.  "  He  's  a  child,  too!  "  And 
then  for  the  first  time  I  heard  her  laugh.  It 
was  not  the  ha-ha-ha  of  civilisation,  but  the 
great  haw-haw-haw  chest  tones  of  the  African 
savage  —  a  laugh  at  once  strong  music  and  the 
epitome  of  humour.  The  tears  of  laughter 
rolled  from  her  eyes;  and  I  caught  a  glimpse 
of  more  than  one  Chinaman  looking  suddenly 
up  from  his  work  and  smiling  broadly  toward 
the  burst  of  merriment. 

After  a  while  she  stopped  laughing  and 
rose  to  her  feet. 

"  Now  for  business,"  she  said.  "  Do  I  lay 
the  matter  before  the  company  —  or  don't  I? 
It 's  your  secret." 

"  No,"  said  I,  "  it  became  yours,  too,  when 
you  laughed  like  that." 

"Good!"  she  said,  and  flushed  up  redly 
under  her  clear  tan.  "  But  you  won't  find  them 
coming  to  any  decision  right  off.  There  's  no 
man  in  this  world  so  quick  to  decide  as  a  China 
man  if  he  's  only  got  a  second  to  make  up  his 


66       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

mind;  and  there  's  no  man  so  slow,  if  he  's  got 
weeks  and  weeks.  Anyhow7,"  she  went  on, 
"  you  '11  be  parlour-boarder;  and  I  'm  hanged  if 
we  don't  put  a  little  flesh  on  your  bones.  There 
is  n't  a  better  trainer  in  God's  world  than  I  am. 
I  had  a  husband,"  she  said,  with  a  sudden 
twitching  of  the  eyelids,  "  who  was  a  crank  on 
health  —  Sleep,"  she  said,  "  is  the  most  im 
portant  thing;  so  roll  over,  and  when  you 
wake  up  I  '11  see  that  you  do  the  next  most 
important  thing  next." 

And  I  rolled  over  as  I  had  been  commanded, 
and  fell  upon  the  instant  into  a  quiet  deep-sea 
sleep. 


CHAPTER    ^^BK^^M     LICHEE 
EIGHT 


MY  eyes  were  no  sooner  wide  open  than  Bessie 
came  up  to  me,  smiling  as  upon  a  child,  and, 
"  Now,  sir,"  she  said,  "  stand  up!  " 

So  I  stood  up,  very  weakly,  and  said  that  I 
was  waiting  for  orders. 

"  Well,"  she  said,  "  draw  a  deep  breath  — 
try  to  burst  yourself  —  that's  the  way  — 
and  now  hold  it,  as  long  as  you  can  —  there, 
that  '11  do ;  and  now  let  it  out,  as  slow 
as  you  can.  It 's  to  give  you  the  right 
kind  of  an  appetite  and  everything,"  she 
said. 

;( It  makes  me  dizzy,"  I  said. 

"  Never  mind  that,"  said  she ;  "  do  you  see 
how  it 's  done  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  I  said. 

"  Then,"  said  she.  "  I  'm  going  below;  and 
you  '11  go  on  breathing  as  I  've  showed  you  till 
you  get  your  clothes  off,  and  then  you  '11  go  and 
stand  in  the  lea-scuppers,  and  the  boys  will  look 


68       YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

after  you.  Now,"  she  said,  "  don't  look  obsti 
nate.  It 's  for  your  own  good  —  pah  —  no 
wonder  you  're  sickly !  "  She  turned  away  im 
patiently,  and  when  she  had  disappeared  I 
began,  not,  however,  without  hesitation,  com 
punction  and  a  feeling  that  I  was  playing  the 
fool,  to  breath  as  she  had  directed  and  to  strip 
off  my  much-creased  and  bedraggled  clothes. 
And  presently,  shivering  in  the  wind,  naked  as 
Adam  and  frightfully  ashamed  of  my  thinness, 
I  advanced  trepidantly  upon  three  Chinamen, 
who,  smiling  broadly,  appeared  to  be  awaiting 
me  in  the  lea-scuppers.  These  three,  suddenly 
and  without  warning  but  with  loud  grunts  and 
exclamations,  seized  me  and  commenced  to 
brush  me  strongly  with  dry,  bristly  brushes. 
They  went  over  me  from  head  to  foot  with  a 
kind  of  good-humoured  fury  until  from  cold  I 
passed  to  warm,  from  warm  to  fever;  and 
then,  just  as  I  thought  the  intention  was  to 
skin  me  alive,  the  brushing  ceased,  the  three 
sprang  aside,  and  I  received  full  upon  the 
back  a  bucket  of  ice-cold  water  thrown  with 
violence. 

With  a  cry  between  pain,  fear  and  rage,  I 
turned,  only  to  receive  a  second  bucket  in  the 
open  mouth.  Turn  and  start  and  twist  as  I 
would,  there  was  nothing  for  me  but  laughter 


LICHEE  69 

and  water,  and  behold,  at  the  very  moment  when 
I  felt  about  to  die,  I  began  to  enjoy  myself! 
And  when  that  sudden  and  violent  bathing  was 
at  an  end  and  I  stood,  streaming  sea-water  and 
glowing  like  a  new-cast  statue,  I  felt  in  my 
whole  being  an  exhilaration  and  freedom  from 
care  that  were  wonderful. 

But  now  they  came  at  me  with  great  hand- 
fuls  of  cotton  waste,  such  as  is  used  for  clean 
ing  brass,  and  scrubbed  me  dry;  and  then 
one  flung  me  a  kind  of  pajama  suit  of  thin 
white  cotton;  and,  being  clothed  in  this, 
another  brought  a  razor  and  fresh  water  and 
soap  and  shaved  me  delicately  and  quickly. 
And  then  they  made  me  drink  down  a  great 
bowl  of  water  and  went  about  their  business 
smiling. 

Bessie  now  came  out  of  the  cabin  leading 
by  the  hand  a  little  boy.  He  was  dressed  in 
amazing  contrast  to  the  Chinamen  and  to 
Bessie  herself.  Indeed,  he  looked  like  a  mini 
ature  viceroy,  or  princeling,  just  out  of  the 
band-box;  from  the  little  skull-cap  of  brocade 
with  its  jade  button,  to  the  snow-white  socks 
(or  rather  mittens,  for  the  big  toe  had  a  com 
partment  to  itself)  he  was  the  pink,  I  am  sure, 
of  Chinese  fashion,  and  the  mould  of  form.  He 
was  in  a  bright  sky-blue  silk  jacket,  with  white 


70       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

silk  bands  to  the  wide  sleeves  and  white  cording 
low  around  the  throat. 

This  celestial  little  garment  had  been  em 
broidered  by  witchcraft  with  butterflies  in 
wonderful  soft  tints  and  shades,  and  birds  and 
flower-pots  with  flowers  growing  out  of  them ; 
and  green  puppy-dogs  with  round  popping  eyes ; 
and  little  high-arched  bridges  that  crossed 
streams  and  led  to  pagodas  and  temples ;  and 
a  thousand  and  one  devices,  exquisite  in  them 
selves  and  forming  as  a  whole  an  effect  of 
magical  jewelling.  Trousers  of  a  clear,  bright 
green  silk,  wrapped  at  the  ankles  and  thrust 
into  the  aforementioned  white  socks,  completed 
the  costume ;  or  rather  it  was  completed  by  the 
child  himself.  There  was  a  gravity  upon  his 
jolly  round  face,  and  a  majesty  —  may  I  say 
so  ?  —  to  his  grave,  toddling  sea-waddle  that 
were  the  very  essence  of  the  picture.  He  was 
like  a  Chinese  advertisement  of  a  health  food, 
and  as  he  came  toward  me,  one  hand  in  Bessie's 
and  one  resting  gravely  upon  his  portly  little 
"  turn,"  famished  as  I  was,  I  could  have  cried 
aloud  for  joy. 

Chinese  he  seemed  from  head  to  toe,  but 
when,  after  looking  gravely  in  my  face  for 
some  moments,  his  sloe  eyes  closed  suddenly 
and  he  put  back  his  head  and  laughed  a  treble 


LICHEE  71 

ghost  of  that  haw-haw-haw  of  Bessie's,  I  knew 
that  he  belonged  to  no  country,  and  to  no  race 
of  men. 

Bessie  looked  me  gravely  in  the  eyes. 

"  Saves  a  world  of  explanation,"  she  said, 
"doesn't  it  —  that  laugh?  Stop  laughing, 
Lichee,  you  little  monkey !  " 

Lichee  broke  short  off. 

'  Time  Melican  man  eat,"  said  he. 

"  Lichee,"  said  I,  "  you  are  delightful  in 
conversation." 

'  Yes,"  said  Bessie,  "  you  're  to  have  food 
now,  on  two  conditions." 

"  A  thousand!  "  I  cried  eagerly. 

"  First,"  said  Bessie,  "  you  've  got  to  say 
you  liked  your  bath  —  we  heard  him  yell, 
did  n't  we,  Lichee  ?  —  and  second,  you  '11  chew 
every  mouthful  you  eat  forty  times." 

"But  why?"  said  I.  "Is  it  a  religious 
rite?" 

"  No,"  said  Bessie  quietly,  "  it 's  to  make  a 
man  of  you  —  and  when  you  're  that  you  can 
talk  about  religion.  It  sickens  me  to  think  how 
you  've  neglected  yourself.  Bright  enough 
you  are,  too,  by  the  shape  of  your  head,  to 
know  better !  I  'd  rather  see  a  good  solid  bar 
room  drunk  than  a  library  skeleton.  Come 
now,  shake  hands,  and  forget  it !  " 


72       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

She  smiled  very  winningly  and  we  shook 
hands. 

"  Melican  man  eat  now?  "  said  Lichee. 

"  Oh,  my  friend,  my  friend !  "  I  cried.  And 
had  he  been  my  owrn  I  could  not  at  that  fam 
ished  moment  have  loved  him  more. 


CHAPTER 
NINE 


Chang 


BESSIE'S 
STORY 


I  WAS  soon  enthusiastically  taken  up  with 
physical  training.  From  the  very  first  the 
brushings,  and  the  violent  baths,  the  light  diet, 
much  chewed,  the  frequent  great  drafts  of 
water,  and  the  strong  sea  air  had  stirred  within 
me  and  were  bringing  to  liveliness  the  germs 
of  health  and  well-being. 

But  you  will  not  suppose  that  the  experi 
ence  with  Carrol  and  his  friends  was  ever  long 
out  of  mind;  nor  that  I  awaited  with  anything 
but  impatience  the  decision  of  the  Shantung 
Company  upon  the  affair  of  the  treasure. 
They  regarded  me,  after  Bessie  had  told 
them  of  it,  with  an  open  interest  and  perhaps 
a  tinge  more  of  zeal  in  attending  to  my  needs 
and  comforts;  and  they  made  me  feel  that  I 
was  no  waif  upon  their  charity,  but  one  who 
paid,  or  at  least  made  creditable  promises  of 
payment  for  what  he  got. 

But  not  a  word  of  pro  and  con  upon  the  ad 
venture  itself  was  to  be  heard  from  one  of 
them,  nor  do  I  think  that  they  discussed  the 


74       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

matter  among  themselves.  I  was  suffered  to 
come  and  go  as  I  pleased ;  and  was  encouraged 
to  take  a  light  share  in  such  work  as  swabbing 
down  the  decks,  and  even  learned  to  stand  a 
trick  at  the  wheel.  Nor  was  I  allowed  to  stand 
aside  when  it  came  to  amusements. 

'  They  look  up  to  you,"  said  Bessie  to  me 
once,  "  because  you  are  an  author ;  writing 
is  sacred  to  the  Chinese,  pretty  near;  or  at 
least  it 's  the  very  tip-top  thing  in  good  man 
ners  ;  and  these  boys  are  n't  the  Canton  coolie 
type  anyway ;  they  're  North  Chinamen,  well 
educated  some  of  them ;  and  they  Ve  a  pretty 
snug  inkling  of  what 's  what. 

'  They  're  certainly  different  from  the  China 
men  I  Ve  seen  in  America,"  I  said,  "  taller  and 
thicker-necked.  They  don't  look  so  much  like 
delicate  birds.  And  I  Ve  never  been  kinder 
used  by  any  one  —  but  that,  of  course,  is  owing 
to  you." 

:t  We  were  slipping  along  upon  a  brisk  beam 
wind,  with  a  pleasant  bubble  of  water  under 
the  bows  and  under  the  leeward  rail,  while  the 
foam  whirled  and  sudded  in  our  wake.  Lichee 
was  in  the  galley  composing  sweetmeats  with 
a  little  help  from  the  cook;  Wong  was  at  the 
wheel,  steering  with  two  fingers;  Chang  and 
Jili  were  stripping  the  morning's  wash  from 


BESSIE'S    STORY  75 

the  windward  rigging;  and  there  was  a  pair 
of  checker  players  in  the  shadow  of  the  fore 
sail.  But  otherwise  we  had  the  deck  pretty 
well  to  ourselves. 

"Mrs.  Bessie,"  I  said,  "just  what  is  the 
Shantung  Company?  " 

"  Do  you  notice,"  said  she,  "  that  they  're 
all  about  the  same  age?  Well,  they  were  all 
students  together  in  some  Chinese  college 
and  they  had  advanced  views  about  politics, 
and  China  began  to  get  unpleasant  for  them. 
So  they  clubbed  together  and  bought  this 
schooner  of  a  sealer  that  had  to  go  to  jail; 
and  she  's  been  home  and  country  to  them  ever 
since.  They  swore  an  oath  of  partnership  — 
to  stick  together,  sink  or  swim,  and  to  share 
and  share  alike  —  good  luck,  bad  luck,  and 
the  whole  hog." 

"And  you,  Mrs.  Bessie?"  I  said,  after  a 
pause. 

"  You  've  looked  that  question  more  than 
once,"  said  she,  "  and  you  've  thought  this  and 
you  've  thought  that,  till  you  don't  know  where 
I  stand  on  the  ladder  that  has  its  head  at 
heaven's  gate  and  its  feet  in  hellmuck.  .  .  . 
Chang's  father  willed  me  an  interest  in  the 
Company  and  other  interests  that  were  nabbed 
when  he  died.  He  was  a  good  man  by  his 


76 

lights ;  all  white  under  the  yellow.  ...  I  know 
what  they  think  in  Christian  countries  about 
white  girls  that  marry  Chinks ;  but  I  've  a 
bit  boy  that  looks  up  to  me  and  honours  me,  and 
twelve  good  men  and  true  —  " 

"  Thirteen,"  I  corrected.  "  Not  that  I  want 
to  boast." 

She  gave  me  a  grateful  look. 

"  Mrs.  Bessie,"  I  said,  "  I  'm  curious  as  any 
woman.  But  I  'm  no  cat.  I  'd  dearly  love  to 
have  the  whole  story.  Am  I  going  to?  " 

"  It 's  long,"  she  said  doubtfully.  "  And  it 's 
some  tough." 

"  And  take  my  word  for  it,"  said  I,  "  that 
somewhere  there  's  a  lot  that 's  fine  in  it." 

"  I  married,"  she  said,  "  when  I  was  seven 
teen.  He  was  all  kinds  of  a  man,  Willy  was; 
ten  years  older  than  me;  and  gentle  as  they 
make  'em,  and  white  clean  through.  He  was 
a  born  athlete,  and  a  made  one — "  She  smiled : 
"  That 's  how  I  come  to  be  such  a  trainer.  At 
first  \ve  lived  in  'Frisco,  and  saved  a  little 
money.  Then  Willy  thought  he  saw  a  chance 
to  make  money  in  Shanghai  —  he  was  a  kind 
of  small  contractor  and  there  was  a  boom  in 
building.  We  went  out  —  that  was  seven 
years  ago  —  and  Willy  'd  no  sooner  got  there 
than  he  bid  for  a  contract  to  put  up  a  house  in 


BESSIE'S    STORY  77 

the  English  section  —  just  a  little  two-story 
house,  but  with  a  good  profit  in  it. 

;'  We  kept  house  in  two  rooms  just  on  the 
edge  of  the  Chinese  quarter,  and  I  was  happy 
all  day  long,  even  when  Willy  was  away  look 
ing  after  his  contract.  I  guess  a  woman  's  hap 
piest  when  she  's  seeing  one  man,  or  looking 
forward  to  seeing  him,  and  knows  he  '11  come 
to  her  sober  and  gentle  and  loving. 

1  There  was  only  one  thing  we  wanted,  and 
that  was  a  kid;  but  there  was  nothing  doing. 
Willy  got  mixed  up  in  local  athletics,  and  boxed 
and  swam  races  and  played  ball  when  he  had 
the  chance.  And  sometimes  we  'd  hire  a  couple 
of  ponies  —  we  could  n't  either  of  us  ride  to 
save  our  necks  —  and  go  rides  in  the  country. 
One  day  Willy  got  off  at  a  piece  of  old  wall 
to  see  how  it  was  put  together.  He  said  it  was 
'  curious  construction,'  that  was  his  word.  And 
I  told  him  not  to  go  near  the  old  thing,  because 
it  would  fall  on  him.  But  he  smiled  and  went 
up  close  to  the  wall  and  poked  it  and  looked  it 
over  and  got  out  his  note-book  to  make  a  sketch 
—  and  then  I  saw  the  thing  totter  and  I 
screamed;  and  Willy  jumped,  but  not  quick 
enough.  He  was  pinned  by  the  legs,  and 
by  the  time  I  got  to  him  he  had  fainted 
dead  away.  I  got  some  Chinamen  that 


78       YELLOW   MEN    AND    GOLD 

were  working  in  a  field  to  help  me,  and  we 
got  the  stones  off  his  legs,  and  they  got  a 
couple  of  poles  and  made  a  kind  of  litter  and 
carried  him  back  to  the  city.  Once  Willy 
opened  his  eyes,  and  said  '  curious  construc 
tion/  But  the  rest  of  the  time  he  was 
unconscious. 

"  I  gave  those  Chinamen  all  the  money  I 
had,  because  they  'd  acted  so  white,  and  had  in 
the  best  doctor  in  Shanghai  to  look  at  Willy. 
He  looked  and  went  away  and  came  again 
with  another  doctor  and  a  nurse,  and  they 
cut  one  of  Willy's  legs  off  at  the  ankle  and  the 
other  above  the  knee  .  .  .  but  he  did  n't  get 
well.  He  just  seemed  to  live,  and  that  was  all. 
They  said  his  back  was  hurt,  and  his  insides, 
they  thought,  but  were  n't  sure.  Willy's  con 
tract  went  to  pot,  and  the  money  mixed  up  in  it. 

''  I  saw  the  consul,  and  told  him  we  were 
stone  broke,  and  he  said  he  'd  do  what  he  could. 
It  was  n't  much.  He  said  he  'd  have  Willy  put 
in  a  free  hospital,  and  get  me  a  job  as  chamber 
maid  in  an  English  family  he  knew,  or  buy 
me  a  steerage  passage  home,  whatever  I  chose. 
But  I  could  n't  keep  Willy  on  chambermaid 
wages,  and  I  would  n't  leave  him,  and  I  told 
the  consul  so.  He  kind  of  hemmed  and  hawed 
and  looked  around  to  see  if  any  one  was  listen- 


BESSIE'S    STORY  79 

ing-,  and  then  he  says :  '  Look  here/  he  says, 
'  what  if  I  were  to  pay  you  eight  dollars  gold 
a  week? '  '  Well,'  says  I,  '  what  if  you  were?  ' 
Before  he  got  more  than  six  words  out  of  his 
mouth  I  grabbed  the  heavy  ruler  that  was  on 
his  desk  and  brought  it  down  on  his  white  head. 
And  the  last  I  saw  of  him  he  was  face  down 
among  his  papers,  bleeding  like  a  stuck  pig. 

"He  didn't  prosecute  in  the  courts;  but 
he  prosecuted  behind  my  back  —  gave  me  a 
bad  name  and  said  I  'd  made  certain  proposi 
tions  to  him  that  had  shamed  his  white  hairs. 
And  he  took  care  that  nobody  should  help  me 
or  employ  me.  And  a  day  or  so  later  the 
tradesmen  —  I  guess  he  set  'em  on  —  began  to 
want  their  money  and  I  did  n't  know  where  to 
turn. 

"Well,  one  morning  an  old  Chinaman  come 
to  see  me.  He  was  old  as  the  hills,  and  the 
brocades  on  him  were  worth  a  thousand  dol 
lars  gold  if  they  were  worth  a  cent.  He  had 
two  servants,  one  to  carry  his  fan  and  purse  and 
umbrella,  and  one  to  roll  cigarettes  for  him ;  he 
smoked  'em  as  fast  as  they  could  be  rolled.  He 
was  a  wonderful  looking  old  guy;  he  had 
black-rimmed  specs  three  inches  across  and 
perfectly  round,  and  there  wasn't  a  level  patch 
of  skin  on  his  face  —  it  was  just  ten  hundred 


So       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

million  little  wrinkles.  He  talked  good  English 
-  the  best  I  ever  heard  a  Chinaman  talk.  He 
began  by  saying  that  he  was  seventy  years 
old  and  that  I  must  n't  be  angry  with  him  at 
anything  he  said. 

"  He  said  he  'd  heard  about  me  and  all  my 
troubles  and  how  my  own  people  would  n't 
help  me;  and  that  he  himself,  being  a  sport 
ing  man,  had  come  to  make  me  a  proposition. 
He  said  he  'd  pay  me  fifteen  dollars  gold  a 
week  —  no  writing,  just  his  word  and  mine  — 
as  long  as  Willy  lived.  He  said  he  'd  seen  the 
doctor,  and  the  doctor  said  Willy  might  live, 
and  might  not.  If  Willy  lived  a  year  the  con 
tract  ended,  with  good  wishes  on  both  sides. 
But  if  Willy  died,  I  was  to  become  the  prop 
erty  of  the  old  Chinaman.  He  said  his  chief 
business  was  buying  pretty  girls  and  '  placing 
them,'  he  called  it.  I  said,  *  What  if  you  die?  ' 
and  he  said  the  bank  would  go  on  paying  the 
money  just  the  same,  for  a  year,  but  that  I 
would  n't  be  bound  to  anything.  Well  I  thought 
it  over.  It  sure  was  a  sporting"  proposition  on 
the  old  Chinaman's  part,  and  I  was  just  as 
sure  that  Willy  would  live!  And  if  he  did  n't 
—  why,  it  did  n't  seem  to  matter  what  happened 
to  me. 

"  Every  week  the  money  come  in  regular 


BESSIE'S    STORY  81 

by  messenger  from  a  Chinese  bank;  and  once 
in  a  while  Hoang  Lo,  which  was  the  old  fel 
low's  name,  sent  me  a  basket  of  fresh  eggs 
with  his  compliments,  and  called  once  to  say 
that  he  only  sent  me  eggs  because  if  he  sent 
anything  else  I  'd  be  afraid  he  'd  put  poison 
in  it  for  Willy. 

"  It  was  having  broken  his  contract  that 
killed  Willy  as  much  as  anything.  He  was 
that  honest,  sir,  and  open;  he  just  couldn't 
bear  it.  But  he  lived  long  after  the  doctor  said 
he  would.  It  seemed  as  if  he  knew  that  he  had 
to  live  a  year  to  make  things  come  out  right 
for  me.  But  of  course  he  did  n't  know. 

;<  When  the  'leventh  month  was  under  way 
I  began  to  see  a  good  deal  of  Hoang  Lo.  He 
came  pretty  nearly  every  day,  and  he  was  that 
kind  and  generous  that  I  got  to  think  a  lot 
of  him.  That 's  funny,  Mr.  Parrish.  He  was 
planning  to  set  me  well  along  the  downward 
path,  and  yet  I  got  to  like  him  and  look  for 
ward  to  his  visits  and  his  talk.  He  was  wise. 
And  he  saw  how  I  felt  about  Willy  —  that 
nothing  else  mattered,  and  he  got  fond  of  me. 

"  Two  days  before  the  year  was  up,  Willy 
began  to  sink.  He  roused  up  enough  to  say 
good-by  and  to  give  me  a  lot  of  advice  about 
what  to  do  when  he  was  n't  there  any  longer 


82       YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

to  look  after  me !  And  I  said  yes  to  everything, 
and  promised  everything  he  asked,  if  only  to 
make  his  mind  easy  about  me.  About  sundown 
that  night  he  got  unconscious,  and  though  he 
did  n't  die  just  then,  he  never  spoke  again. 

'"'  When  Hoang  Lo  learned  that  poor  Willy 
was  sinking,  he  came  round  at  once.  And 
he  had  a  smile  on  him  that  was  n't  '  Now  I  've 
got  you'  or  '  I  told  you  so  '  or  '  You  lose,  I  win  ' 
or  anything  like  that.  It  was  the  smile  old 
friends  put  on  when  they  're  sorry,  too.  He 
said  that  he  would  bring  a  Chinese  doctor,  who 
had  studied  in  Germany,  to  see  Willy,  if  I  'd 
only  believe  that  it  was  n't  just  a  scheme  to 
put  the  finishing  touches  to  Willy  before  the 
year  was  up.  I  trusted  the  old  man  and  it 
pleased  him. 

;<  When  the  Chinese  doctor  saw  Willy  and 
took  his  pulse  he  just  shook  his  head.  He  said 
Willy  couldn't  get  well;  there  was  no  use 
bothering.  He  said,  though,  when  Hoang  Lo 
asked,  that  oxygen  and  electricity  might  keep 
life  flickering  on  for  a  day  or  two.  And  then 
what  does  the  old  Hoang  Lo  do  but  give  orders 
to  have  Willy  kept  alive  as  long  as  possible  and 
not  to  spare  any  expense!  So  the  Chinese 
doctor  he  sent  for  oxygen  and  things  and  his 
slippers,  and  stayed  by  Willy  till  the  end.  .  .  . 


BESSIE'S    STORY  83 

And  the  end  came  six  hours  after  the  year 
was  up. 

"  I  'd  dried  all  my  tears  out  weeks  before.    I 

*/ 

was  that  tired  with  watching  and  grieving  — 
I  just  collapsed. 

"  Hoang  Lo  made  all  the  arrangements  for 
burying  Willy,  and  paid  for  them.  Then  he 
waited  till  I  was  able  to  talk.  And  then  he 
said  he  knew  I  'd  have  kept  my  contract  if 
Willy  had  n't  lived,  and  that  he  always  was 
at  the  service  of  honourable  persons.  What 
was  I  going  to  do  now  ?  I  said  '  It  was  through 
you  he  lived  out  the  year.  God  bless  you, 
Hoang  Lo,  you  did  what  you  could  for  us; 
you  're  dead  white.  The  letter  of  the  con 
tract  's  broken,  I  know.  But  it 's  a  quibble  of 
your  making.' 

"  He  just  smiled.  He  said  that  long  since 
he  'd  made  up  his  mind  that  I  was  n't  any  com 
mon  trash  to  be  sold  for  so  much  gold.  He 
said  I  was  a  pearl,  not  a  woman.  And  first 
thing  I  knew,  the  old  fellow  had  proposed 
matrimony  as  honourable  as  a  Chinese  can. 
Maybe  if  I  'd  been  myself  I  'd  have  turned  him 
down,  but  I  was  sick  with  watching  and  wait 
ing  and  I  was  sick  with  fever,  too,  though  I 
did  n't  know  it  at  the  time.  And  I  suppose  it 
came  to  me  that  marrying  a  Chinaman  old 


84       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

enough  to  be  my  grandfather  was  n't  like 
marrying  a  young  one.  The  last  I  remember 
till  I  came  to  my  senses  weeks  later  in  Hoang 
Lo's  house  —  and  he  had  tan-bark  spread  in  the 
street  to  stop  the  noise  —  was  dropping  at  his 
feet  and  crying  against  his  knees,  and  his  hand 
patting  my  shoulder." 

The  honest  tears  streamed  down  Bessie's 
face,  and  for  some  minutes  she  could  not  go  on. 

"  Well,"  she  said,  "  Lichee  came  and  old 
Hoang  Lo  died,  and  left  a  big  property  to 
Chang  and  the  kid  and  me;  but  the  viceroy 
kicked  up  a  political  mess  and  robbed  right 
and  left,  until  we  had  nothing  to  fall  back  on 
but  the  Shantung  shares. 

"  Now  you  've  heard  the  whole  of  my  hard- 
luck  story.  And  whether  I  acted  right  or 
wrong  does  n't  matter  a  hang.  But  I  do  know 
that  having  made  my  bargain,  it  was  right  for 
me  to  stick  to  it  —  and  try  to  be  cheerful  in 
it  —  and  now  the  boys  are  happier  and  more 
content  for  my  presence  on  this  ship,  and 
kinder.  Do  I  look  after  them  all,  the  best  I 
can,  and  nurse  them  when  they  're  sick  and 
laugh  them  out  of  the  sulks  and  keep  them 
away  from  drugs  —  or  don't  I  ?  As  God  's 
good,  Jim  Parrish,  I  think  I  Ve  done  as  well 
by  my  circumstances  as  many  a  luckier  woman 


BESSIE'S    STORY  85 

has  done  by  hers!  What  the  people  who  sit 
up  to  judge  forget  is  just  this :  that  God 's 
so  bright  he  can  shine  light  down  into  the 
blackest  hole !  And  it 's  not  Tom,  Dick  or 
Harry  that  can  stop  him,  Mr.  Parrish,  and 
you  can  put  that  in  your  pipe  and  smoke  it." 

She  had  become  very  vehement,  and  her 
eyes  shone  with  a  splendid  valorous  look,  and 
dared  me,  as  it  were,  to  contradict  her.  But 
nothing  was  further  from  my  mind ;  I  had  for 
her  at  that  moment  but  one  feeling,  and  that 
was  unshakeable  admiration.  For  it  seemed 
to  me  that  the  outcast  shone  very  brightly  out 
of  the  darkness  into  which  she  had  been  thrust. 


CHAPTER 
TEN 


TWO  SIDES 

OF 
A  RESCUE 


HAD  Lichee  been  wholly  white  he  must  have 
been  outrageously  spoiled;  but  the  thou 
sands  of  generations  of  courteous  and  polite 
children  that  lay  behind  him  on  the  one  side 
were  not  easily  to  be  shunted  off.  I  may  say, 
I  think,  for  a  Chinese  child  he  was  spoiled; 
but  as  white  children  go,  he  was  an  angel.  Al 
ways  there  was  to  be  found  one  of  the  Shan 
tung  Company  in  a  playful  mood,  ready  to 
carve  potatoes  into  dragons ;  to  make  and  fly  a 
kite  off  the  stern;  to  ride  him  pick-a-back,  or 
to  roll  and  wrestle  with  him  upon  the  deck. 
Or  he  might,  if  he  liked,  go  aloft  in  a  wicker 
basket  for  all  the  world  like  a  bright  little,  fat 
little  bird  in  a  cage. 

In  a  world  where  his  word  was  law,  Lichee 
never  sulked;  and,  in  a  position  to  command, 
had  his  way  most  often  either  by  circuitous 
intriguings  or  by  the  most  direct,  frank  and 
engaging  begging.  The  bowels  of  those  yellow 
men  yearned  over  the  child;  and  I  must  be 
lieve  that  the  parts  of  him  that  were  Bessie  — 


TWO    SIDES    OF   A    RESCUE      87 

the  rollicking,  infectious  laugh,  the  sudden 
\\istfulness,  the  sturdy  fearlessness,  had  drawn 
them  a  little  from  their  own  civilisation  toward 
ours.  There  was  many  a  burst  of  gaiety  aboard 
the  Shantung,  many  a  kind  and  thoughtful 
deed,  many  a  well  engineered  surprise  party 
with  the  giving  of  pleasure  for  its  object,  and 
many  a  merry  joke  was  passed  for  the  sake  of 
joking.  I  have  seen  better  moralists  who  were 
less  kind ;  richer  men  who  were  less  generous ; 
ministers  of  the  gospel  who,  take  them  for  all 
in  all,  have  seemed  to  me  less  Christian.  And 
I  am  quite  sure  that  I  have  never  been  thrown 
among  men  who  were  so  clean;  so  zealous  to 
tub;  so  indefatigable  with  the  toothbrush. 
As  for  little  Lichee,  when  he  was  not  dressed 
like  a  fairy-story  he  was  naked  as  a  cherub, 
now  snowy  with  lather  and  now  streaming 
with  rinsings. 

For  my  part  I  began,  as  Bessie  said,  "  to 
flesh  up,"  to  develop  a  latent,  distinct,  if  awk 
ward,  celerity,  and  to  grow  strong  in  the 
muscles.  If  only  for  that  I  blessed  the  woman; 
but  I  had  stronger  reasons  to  bless  her  —  for 
a  newer,  franker,  honester  outlook  upon  life; 
for  a  strengthening  of  heart  and  moral  cour 
age.  Indeed,  as  the  saying  is,  I  was  by  way 
of  becoming  a  new  man;  the  air  looked  no 


88       YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

longer  like  torn  and  dirty  lace  to  tired  eyes; 
the  sea-water  washed  the  tired  lines  out  of  my 
face ;  and  the  strong  fresh  wind  from  the  west 
blew  colour  into  my  cheeks.  I  learned  to  wrestle 
a  little;  to  get  a  little  way  up  a  swinging 
rope;  and  to  balance  a  broom  upon  my  chin 
(a  fine  exercise,  by  the  way,  in  a  rolling  sea). 

To  keep  the  mind  on  edge,  I  began  to  pick 
at  Chinese,  and,  thanks  to  a  prodigious  power 
for  remembering,  was  soon  on  terms  of 
equality  with  —  Lichee.  Beyond  that,  how 
ever,  I  discovered  the  road  into  the  celestial 
tongue  to  be  thorny,  steep  and  abounding  in 
blind  alleys.  But  the  formidable  efforts  that 
I  made  got  me  into  better  liking  and  put 
me  upon  terms  of  real  friendliness  with  my 
teachers.  English,  though,  remained  the  chief 
medium  of  intercourse,  for,  as  Jili  courteously 
remarked,  '  You  think  Chinaman  no  good 
Melican  talkee;  me  think  you  hellee  dam  bad 
Chinaman  talkee." 

It  was  not  till  we  were  off  the  Isthmus, 
stewing  in  a  kind  of  unexpected  doldrums,  that 
the  Shantung  Company  called  a  meeting  to 
which  I  was  not  invited  and  at  which,  so  Bessie 
hinted  to  me  as  she  went  forward  with  the 
others,  the  matter  of  the  treasure  was  to  be 
seriously  considered.  I  was  sent  for  after  about 


TWO    SIDES    OF   A   RESCUE      89 

an  hour  and  asked  to  repeat  as  much  of  the 
famous  paper  as  I  could  remember,  the  items 
of  treasure  and  as  much  as  possible  of  the 
note  at  the  end. 

After  the  naming  of  each  item  —  and  I  had 
the  most  of  them  pretty  pat  —  Bessie  trans 
lated  into  Chinese,  but  none  of  the  men  inter 
rupted  or  commented  in  any  way. 

When  I  had  finished  with  the  items  and  with 
the  note  at  the  end  I  was  asked  for  my  own 
personal  beliefs  in  the  matter;  heard  without 
comment,  and  sent  aft.  I  had  more  the  feel 
ings  of  one  whose  veracity  is  at  stake  than  of 
one  whose  personal  fortunes  hang  upon  a  hair. 

Yet  anxiety  upon  the  latter  point  kept  me 
moving  —  impelled  me  to  affect  a  calmness 
that  I  was  far  from  enjoying;  to  examine 
with  sudden  interest  the  spokes  of  the  wheel; 
to  test  with  a  finger-nail  the  rigidity  of  the 
sun-softened  pitch  between  the  deck  planks; 
and  to  scan  from  time  to  time  the  westward 
weather  for  signs  of  a  returning  wind. 

To  say  that  the  Shantung  was  without  mo 
tion  and  the  sea  smooth  as  a  lake  would  not 
be  strictly  true ;  yet  what  way  she  had  was  by 
the  stern,  and  so  broad,  so  roundly  moulded  and 
slow  going  were  the  ocean  swells  that  you  could 
not  have  said  to  the  moment  when  the  schooner 


90       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

finished  riding  and  began  to  fall.  The  damp, 
scorching  atmosphere  was  unsealike,  and  sug 
gested  (though  there  was  nowhere  to  be 
seen  any  thickening  along  the  eastern  horizon 
that  might  have  been  land)  the  proximity  of 
Panama  with  its  hammering  sun  and  its  tumul 
tuous  vegetation.  Twice  in  New  York  City 
I  have  felt  a  similar  wet,  burning  heat;  once 
in  the  hot  room  of  a  Turkish  bath,  and  once  as 
a  little  child  in  Trinity  church  of  an  Easter 
morning.  Upon  that  latter  occasion,  moistly 
clasping  a  little  palm  branch,  I  had  fainted 
awray,  to  my  father's  intense  mortification. 
And  now,  looking  over  the  stern  and  seeing 
an  actual  palm  branch  floating  in  the  water, 
the  whole  scene  was  recalled  to  me  with  the 
vividness  of  a  view  thrown  suddenly  upon  a 
blank  sheet  by  a  stereopticon. 

I  remembered,  too,  with  a  certain  dismal- 
ness,  how  my  father,  from  the  vivid  heights  of 
a  health  that  was  almost  gross,  had  used  to 
cut  at  my  puniness  with  his  sharp,  ever-ready 
tongue.  Yet  here  was  I,  whom  the  doctor  had 
so  often  given  up,  a  picture  of  so  much  health 
as  is  consistent  with  leanness;  and  there,  in 
old  Trinity  graveyard,  dead  before  the  prime 
of  life,  lay  the  corpse  of  my  father,  who  had 
thought  to  bow  the  whole  world  by  sheer 


TWO    SIDES    OF   A   RESCUE      91 

strength  of  mind  and  body,  and  to  live  a  hun 
dred  years.  I  remember  he  used  to  plant  acorns 
that  his  old  age  might  be  solaced  with  the  ma 
jesty  of  oaks;  and  yet  at  this  writing  the 
tallest  of  those  trees  is  no  higher  than  the 
grave  is  deep. 

The  Shantung,  impelled  by  a  deeper  current, 
perhaps,  leisurely  overhauled  the  palm  branch 
as  it  passed  slowly  forward,  almost  grazing  her 
side.  The  thing  itself  must  have  seemed  de 
sirable  to  Lichee,  and  its  proximity  an  irre 
sistible  temptation.  The  bright  flashing  of  the 
child's  gay  jacket,  seen  with  the  tail  of  an  eye,, 
had  broken  my  revery;  I  looked  up  in  time  to 
see  him  jab  cumbersomely  at  the  branch  with  an 
unwieldly  boat-hook  and,  his  round  face  ex 
pressing  solemn  surprise  rather  than  fear, 
topple  slowly  over  the  low  rail  into  the  sea. 

I  ran  for  the  spot,  with  no  very  definite  idea 
what  I  should  do  when  I  got  there;  stubbed 
one  naked  foot  cruelly  against  a  ring  bolt,  and, 
by  a  dive  as  clean  as  it  was  unpremeditated, 
entered  the  water  almost  on  top  of  the  strug 
gling  child.  My  left  hand,  indeed,  must  have 
passed  under  his  jacket,  or  become  entangled 
with  him  in  some  way ;  anyhow  I  dragged  him 
under  with  me,  and  our  reappearance  together 
had  all  the  hall-marks  of  a  bona  fide  rescue. 


92       YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

Yet  all  was  not  well.  The  child  was  un 
conscious;  we  were  a  dozen  feet  from  the 
schooner's  side;  my  left  arm,  wrenched  back 
ward  against  the  impetus  of  the  dive  by  the 
resistance  of  Lichee's  stationary  weight,  was 
useless;  indeed,  half  full  of  sea-water  and  con 
sternation,  I  must,  if  left  to  myself,  have  gone 
down  with  the  boy.  Yet  help  was  near;  for 
my  sound  arm  in  its  thrashing  fell  sud 
denly  with  jarring  violence  upon  the  boat-hook, 
and  that  straw's  worth  of  additional  buoy 
ancy  preserved  us.  A  second  more  and  the 
half  of  the  Company  were  around  us,  swim 
ming  like  yellow-faced  seals  and  completing  the 
work  of  rescue  \vhich  I  had  accidentally  begun. 

The  incident,  and  the  praise  with  which  I 
was  overwhelmed,  were  the  more  distasteful 
from  the  fact  that,  if  I  had  not  tripped,  I  might 
have  reached  Lichee  from  the  schooner's  deck, 
and  rescued  him  neatly,  without  so  much  as 
wetting  my  shirtsleeves.  I  tried  religiously  to 
defend  myself  from  praise;  explained  the 
whole  affair  to  Bessie  again  and  again  at  the 
top  of  my  voice,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  I  could 
no  more  have  persuaded  those  grateful  hearts 
that  I  was  not  the  saver  and  restorer  to  them 
of  their  mascot  than  that  I  was  the  Emperor  of 
China  in  disguise.  Added  to  their  gratitude 


TWO    SIDES    OF   A    RESCUE      93 

was  admiration  for  the  presence  of  mind  that 
in  the  midst  of  peril,  in  the  very  jaws,  as  it  were, 
of  sharks  and  sea-devils,  had  not  omitted  to 
rescue  so  insignificant  an  object  as  a  boat-hook. 

But  the  true  importance  of  the  incident  to 
this  narrative  is  that  it  served  to  make  up  the 
Shantung  Company's  mind  about  the  treasure. 
As  a  mere  favour,  Bessie  said,  they  would  now 
have  gone  for  me  through  a  thousand  thousand 
hells. 

As  for  Lichee,  he  was  not  long  coming  to, 
and  having  thrown  up  the  sea-water  which 
he  had  swallowed,  signified  that  if  he  might 
become  the  undivided  possessor  of  a  clasp- 
knife  such  as  grown  men  use,  he  would  think 
favorably  of  continuing  to  exist.  Otherwise, 
we  might  as  well  look  forward  to  the  worst. 


CHAPTER 
ELEVEN 


MRS. 
CUNNINGHAM 


IN  the  thought  that  having  voted  for  treasure- 
hunting  the  Shantung  Company  would  make 
quick  work  of  their  business  in  Lima  I  was 
mistaken.  And  when,  in  my  impatience,  I  com 
plained  to  Bessie  that  we  were  wasting  some 
precious  time,  she  begged  to  differ,  and  soon 
had  me  in  agreement  with  her. 

;<  If  you  think  the  boys  are  loitering,"  she 
said,  "  let  me  tell  you  what  Chang  says.  He 
says  he  knows  the  Calliope,  of  old,  for  a  rotten, 
slow-going  tub.  If  she  has  got  a  start  of  us, 
by  this  time,  and  if  she  does  get  to  the  place 
ahead  of  us,  who  cares?  Will  they  get  that 
stuff  out  of  the  mud  under  one  month  —  two 
months?  I  ask  you.  And  every  two-bit  piece 
that  they  do  get  up,  before  we  blow  in,  is  just 
so  much  in  our  pockets  for  the  trouble  of 
taking  it." 

:<  Why,  Bessie,"  said  I,  "  would  n't  they  have 
something  to  say  about  that?  My  idea  was 
to  get  there  before  them  and  lift  the  stuff  and 
vanish  —  leaving  a  few  good  guesses  behind." 


MRS.    CUNNINGHAM  95 

'  That  was  your  idea,  was  it  ?  "  she  said  with 
some  asperity.  '  Well,  the  sooner  you  forget 
it  the  better.  There  is  just  one  chance  in  a  mil 
lion  of  getting  through  the  business  without  a 
fight.  That 's  reason  one  for  delay ;  Chang  's 
trying  to  get  hold  of  a  second-hand  Maxim 
and  some  Winchesters  —  we  've  only  a  couple 
aboard.  Reason  two :  we  're  fitted  for  the 
tropics,  or  'Frisco  at  the  worst.  Nice  you  'd 
look  in  those  cotton  pajamas  sitting  on  an  ice 
berg  !  We  've  got  to  have  warm  clothes ;  and 
Chang  's  going  to  put  a  stove  in  the  cabin  and 
one  in  the  forecastle.  Reason  three :  who  's 
going  to  do  the  diving,  and  how  's  it  going  to 
be  done?  If  Chang  can  hire  it  done,  you  bet 
he  '11  hide  it;  if  he  can't  he  's  got  to  get  hold 
of  a  diving-suit  —  two  of  them  in  case  one 
breaks  —  and  do  the  trick  himself.  Reason 
four :  he  's  going  to  make  the  best  dicker  he 
can  on  the  present  job,  in  case  the  lost  galley- 
west  does  n't  turn  up.  If  that  is  n't  sense, 
Jim,  prove  it!  And  if  you  don't,  why  put  it  in 
your  pipe  and  smoke  it !  " 

"  Thanks,"  I  said,  "  I  '11  smoke," 

"  Good,"  said  Bessie.     '  Then  climb  into  your 

shore  togs  and  show  me  the  town  —  will  you  ? 

I'm  kind  of  bashful  about  leaving  the  ship; 

and — but  maybe  you  'd  rather  not  be  seen  walk- 


96       YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

ing  with  me.  Tell  me  the  truth,  Jim ;  I  won't 
mind  much." 

"Bessie!"  I  cried  indignantly,  and  hurried 
off  to  change  my  clothes.  And  when  we  got 
ashore  —  indeed  Bessie  had  made  herself  very 
trig  and  smart  for  the  occasion  —  we  walked 
up  from  the  wharves  and  promenaded  the  more 
fashionable  streets,  looking  the  parts  of  very 
usual  travellers.  Only  somehow  it  seemed  to 
me  that  Bessie  was  prettier  than  the  run  of 
white  women  in  outlandish  places,  as  I  was 
surely  taller  and  thinner  than  the  average  man. 
She  had,  too,  an  eye  for  colour,  humour  and  ob 
servation  that  w7ould  have  done  credit  to  a 
Davis  or  a  Steevens;  and  I  found  myself  see 
ing  a  thousand  things  that  I  must  else  have 
missed,  and  livening  the  hours  of  the  Spanish 
siesta  with  joyous  laughter.  It  was  by  no 
means  my  first  trip  ashore;  for  three  weeks 
had  passed  since  we  anchored  off  the  Peruvian 
capital;  but  it  was  the  one  that  I  shall  best 
remember. 

I  had  long  since  become  accustomed  to  Bes 
sie's  careless  and  rough  habit  of  speech;  no 
longer  sat  in  judgment  upon  her  Chinese  mar 
riage  ;  and  thought  her,  as  indeed  she  was,  the 
very  best  friend  I  had  in  the  world.  She  was 
the  most  sympathetic  listener,  the  sanest,  kind- 


MRS.    CUNNINGHAM  97 

est  adviser,  the  merriest  companion,  the  most 
devoted  mother,  and  the  most  distinguished 
example  of  making  the  best  of  things  that  ever 
I  saw.  A  man  could  not  have  sailed  long 
aboard  the  Shantung  without  making  a  confi 
dant  of  Bessie.  She  would  have  your  dearest 
secrets  out  of  you  in  no  time,  and  make  them 
her  own.  Had  I  been  a  murderer,  I  must  have 
told  Bessie  upon  some  night  of  stars;  and  the 
girl  into  whose  face  the  little  terriers  looked 
was  a  piece  of  ancient  history  to  her,  yet  one 
upon  which  she  loved  to  harp.  I  had  told  her 
in  the  beginning  that  that  jig  was  up,  but  she 
would  have  none  of  it ;  I  was  to  go  back  to  my 
own  place,  rich  and  strong,  and  to  make  the 
running  with  a  high  hand;  yes,  and  at  the 
wedding  breakfast  I  should  receive  a  telegram 
or  a  cable,  unsigned,  with  the  words,  "  I  told 
you  so." 

"  '  Now  who  told  me  so  ?  '  you  '11  say,"  said 
Bessie,  "'who  was  it,  now?'  And  you'll 
put  your  mind  to  raking  in  the  ashes  of 
all  you  've  ever  done  and  been  and  known, 
and  maybe  you  '11  remember  after  a  while 
and  say :  '  That  was  that  woman  on  the 
Shantung.' ' 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  Bessie,  I  '11  probably  forget 
you  quicker  than  any  one  I  've  ever  known. 


98       YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

There  's  nothing  about  you  to  impress  a  man, 
unless  it 's  your  general  unkindness  and  bad 
temper !  " 

"  I  wonder,"  said  Bessie,  much  mollified,  "  if 
you  and  she  '11  ever  talk  about  me." 

"  If  she  and  I  ever  talk  together  again  in 
this  world,  Bessie,"  I  said,  "  you  '11  be  in  it." 

:'  Would  n't  mentioning  me,"  said  Bessie, 
"  be  —  oh,  like  saying  things  that  can't  be  said 
to  young  girls  ?  Better  cut  me  out,  Jim,  when 
you  leave  us." 

"  When  I  leave  you,  Bessie?  "  said  I.  "  And 
I  'm  not  sure  that  the  Shantung  Company  will 
ever  see  the  last  of  me.  When  have  I  ever 
been  so  \vell  —  or  so  happy  —  or  so  kindly 
treated?  -Never,  and  never  shall  be  again. 
If,"  said  I  jocosely,  "  you  were  a  smoker, 
Bessie,  I  should  tell  you  what  to  put  in  your 
pipe." 

Lima  is  a  quiet  place  in  the  heat  of  the  day. 
And  the  streets  which  had  shown  a  certain 
activity  when  we  came  ashore,  had  become 
gradually  deserted.  Even  our  shadows  hid 
themselves,  as  Bessie  remarked.  You  could 
look  the  length  of  a  street  and  see  nothing 
living,  unless  a  scavenging  rat  or  so  attracted 
by  the  security  of  the  blazing  stillness,  and 
although  shops  remained  open,  it  was  no  un- 


MRS.    CUNNINGHAM  99 

common  thing  to  see  the  proprietor,  through 
the  dirt  and  fly  specks  of  the  windows,  sound 
asleep  in  an  easy-chair. 

In  the  midst  of  this  silence  then,  broken  only 
by  the  sound  of  our  own  footsteps,  Bessie  spoke 
so  suddenly  as  to  startle  me. 

'  Jim,"  said  she,  "  there 's  that  woman 
again." 

"  Is  it?  "  said  I,  "  your  eyes  are  sharper  than 
mine  —  where?  " 

"  She  's  pulled  her  head  in  now,"  said  Bessie. 
"  She  's  in  the  —  one  —  two  —  in  the  ninth 
doorway  on  the  right." 

Even  as  Bessie  spoke  the  woman  put  her 
head  out,  looked  our  way,  appeared  to  hesitate, 
and  once  more  drew  back. 

"  Right  about  face,"  said  Bessie,  "  we  '11  see 
if  it 's  accident,  or  if  she  's  really  following  us." 

So  we  faced  about,  turned  the  first  corner, 
and  there  waited.  Presently  we  heard  swift 
steps  and  a  moment  later  the  woman  herself 
turned  the  corner,  and  stood  as  if  petrified  at 
finding  herself  trapped. 

"Well,"  said  Bessie,  "what  is  it?  You've 
been  following  us  all  morning.  If  it 's  just  bad 
manners,  cut  it  out;  if  you  really  want  some 
thing,  why  speak  your  piece!  " 

The  woman  drew  a  long  breath.    She  was  no 


ioo     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

longer  young  nor  pretty;  but  she  had  great 
stag  eyes  and  wonderful  white  teeth. 

:<  I  ask  pard-on,"  she  said  in  timid,  faltering 
and  very  pretty  Spanish  English. 

"  And  that 's  granted,"  said  Bessie. 

"  I  want  for  to  ask,"  said  the  woman,  "  are 
you  of  the  Unie-ed  State?" 

"  Sure  pop,"  said  Bessie,  "  and  then  some. 
Why?" 

"  Always,"  said  the  woman,  "  if  I  see  people 
of  your  con-tree,  I  have  to  ask  them  if  they 
have  seen  my  frien'  up  there.  I  have  write, 
and  write  an'  get  no  letter  back." 

On  Bessie's  lips  I  distinctly  saw  the  word, 
"  Nutty !  "  form,  but  she  did  not  utter  it.  I 
put  in  quickly  and  as  kindly  as  I  could  speak : 

1  What 's  your  friend's  name  ?  Perhaps  I 
do  know  of  her,  or  of  him." 

And  the  name  she  gave  almost  knocked  me 
silly.  It  was  Roy  Cunningham. 

"  The  crew-man !  "  exclaimed  Bessie. 

"Wot  —  you  say?" 

"  She  says  —  why  yes  we  —  that  is  I,  know 
a  Roy  Cunningham  —  knew  such  a  man." 

"  Know  —  knew !  "  her  voice  grew  suddenly 
shrill  and  tense.  'You  know  him?' 

"  I  knew  him,"  I  said. 

She  did  n't  say  "  Then  he  is  dead."     She 


MRS.    CUNNINGHAM  101 

seemed  to  see  straight  through  me  and  beyond 
me,  and  she  said: 

'  Then  he  is  murder' !  "  And  she  followed 
the  one  second-sight  blow  with  another.  "  Car 
rol  —  It  was  Carrol  keel  him !  " 

She  swayed  dizzily,  and  I  caught  her.  In  a 
moment  the  faintness  had  passed. 

'  We  can't  talk  here."  said  Bessie. 
"Where?" 

"  I  am  Mrs.  Cunningham,"  said  the  woman, 
"  you  come  with  me." 

She  hurried  us  through  a  network  of  side 
streets,  and  led  us,  finally,  into  a  little  wine 
shop,  cool  and  pleasantly  greenish  after  the 
white  glare  of  the  streets.  "  Here,"  said  the 
woman,  "  I  treat  you  with  chocolate,  and  we 
shall  talk.  That  is  our  table  —  you  jus'  wait, 
and  I  give  the  order." 

Bessie  and  I  seated  ourselves  at  a  round 
iron  table,  painted  white  and  much  scratched 
with  names,  initials  and  knife-point  draw 
ings. 

"Bessie!"  I  cried  in  sudden  excitement, 
and  I  pointed  to  a  name,  very  neatly  executed. 

"  '  Espiritu  Santo,'  "  said  she;  "  the  name  of 
the  galleywest!  " 

"  And  look  here,"  said  I,  making  a  fresh 
discovery,  "'Roy  Cunningham!' 


102     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

"  And  here  's  his  name  again,"  said  Bessie, 
"  in  a  heart  with  another  name  —  Carmen  - 

"  Yes,"  said  I,  "  and  here  are  his  initials  and 
a  picture  of  something  —  I  can't  make  out 
what,  can  you?  " 

"  Why,"  said  Bessie,  "  it 's  a  diver's  helmet, 
isn't  it?" 

"Either  that,"  said  I,  "  or  a  skull.  His 
writing  is  better  than  his  drawing.  He  must 
have  sat  often  at  this  table,  Bessie,  with  his 
girl  and  his  dream." 

In  the  act  of  crossing  one  leg  over  the  other 
my  knee  struck  a  hard  knot  under  the  table; 
upon  investigation  it  came  off  in  my  hand,  and 
proved  to  be  a  lump  of  hardened  chewing-gum, 
and  imbedded  in  the  surface  that  had  been  flat 
tened  against  the  table  was  a  paper,  folded  many 
times.  We  unfolded  it,  and  read  in  English : 

I  get  your  word  and  hide;  but  Carrol  get  me.  He 
break  my  finger  to  make  me  tell  —  one  after  the  other 
—  but  I  not  tell.  And  I  not  believe  he  think  I  know.  He 
gone  north  after  you.  Something  tell  me  you  come 
back,  and  we  sail  once  more  and  find  that  gold  where 
we  leave  him.  Carrol  have  me  put  in  prison.  I  am 
just  out.  Some  of  my  finger  not  bend,  and  are  all  grow 
crooked;  but  you  not  mind,  my  dear,  not  you?  I 
have  our  baby  in  prison,  but  he  is  dead  when  he  come. 
I  think  it  is  because  Carrol  hurt  me  so,  and  trample 
on  me  to  make  me  tell.  I  love  you  forever.  C . 


MRS.    CUNNINGHAM  103 

"My  God!"  said  Bessie. 

A  shadow  fell  between  us,  and  we  looked  up 
into  the  face  of  the  woman.  She  reached  a 
small  distorted  hand  toward  the  paper. 

"  Carmen!  "  I  exclaimed. 
'  Yes,"    she    said,    "  please   give   me    thata 
letter.     That  not  mean'  for  you." 

'Was  it  meant  for  Roy  Cunningham?"  I 
asked. 

She  scrutinised  me  for  some  time  with  her 
great  stag  eyes. 

"What  of  it?"  she  said. 

I  rose  and  offered  her  a  chair. 

"  Please  sit  down  and  I  will  tell  you  what 
I  know  about  him." 

She  sat  down,  all  of  a  huddle,  so  to  speak. 

"  Did  Carrol  kill  him?  "  she  asked  presently 
in  a  quiet  voice. 

And  I  told  her  from  the  beginning  all  that 
I  knew  of  the  man  guessed  to  have  been  Cun 
ningham;  of  his  murder;  of  his  eyes  and 
wounds  opening  at  the  approach  of  Carrol; 
and  of  those  subsequent  events  that  accounted 
for  our  meeting  with  her  in  the  restaurant. 

"  Thata  Roy,"  she  said,  "  and  Carrol  kill 
him!" 

And  that  was  all  she  said  for  a  time.  Then, 
speaking  very  gently : 


104     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

"  I  know  you  not  friends  with  Carrol,"  she 
said.  "  I  watch  you  from  the  door ;  and  I  see 
how  them  name  on  thata  table  estonishe  you. 
Roy  love  to  carve  with  his  knife.  And  so 
you  going  after  Carrol  and  thata  treasure? 
I  not  care  about  thata  treasure  —  that  is 
for  you  -  But  I  like  —  oh,  that  only  jus'  and 
fair  —  that  Carrol  belong  to  me.'' 

Her  voice,  tired  and  gentle,  did  not  instil  the 
last  phrase  with  any  particular  meaning. 

'  Why?  "  said  Bessie.  ''  Why  do  you  want 
Carrol?" 

"  Why,"  said  the  woman,  "  he  not  done  you 
no  harm  —  but  you  think  what  he  do  to  me. 
And  then  ask  me  why  I  want  of  him  for?  " 

She  laid  her  two  little  hands,  palm  down,  on 
the  table  so  that  we  should  see  into  what  dis 
tortion  and  rigidity  the  bones  broken  by  Car 
rol  had  set.  They  must  have  been  once  very 
pretty,  clever  little  hands.  But  now,  uncomba- 
tive  as  I  am  by  nature,  the  sight  of  them  was 
like  that  of  a  red  cloth  to  a  bull.  And  I  felt 
myself  trembling  from  head  to  foot  with  the 
lust  to  hunt  Carrol  down  and  kill  him. 

"  Those,"  said  she,  "  were  my  hands.  They 
used  to  make  the  fine  lace.  Cunningham  he 
my  hosband,  as  thees  ring,  that  I  not  get  off 
now  if  I  want,  show.  .  .  .  You  listen  —  "a 


MRS.    CUNNINGHAM  105 

certain  vigour  animated  her  gentle  voice.  "  Roy 
and  I  pass  our  honeymoon  in  one  litter  bit  sloop 
lookin'  for  thata  treasure,  jus'  we  two  of  us. 
It  not  so  easy  for  to  find;  and  when  we  find 
him,  we  cannot  get  him  up.  We  not  expect 
do  that.  We  are  prospective,  what  you  call 
him?  and  if  we  find  there  some  treasure  we  are 
go  to  form  the  company,  with  Roy  for  leader, 
and  go  back  to  them  place  with  divers  and  all. 
Roy  dive  down  just  as  he  is  half  a  dozen  time; 
but  the  water  is  too  col'  and  deep,  and  we 
learn  more  with  that  sea-glass. 

'  The  treasure-ship  she  have  struck  on  a 
reef  of  rock  and  go  down  into  a  kind  of  bowl 
on  the  other  side;  that  bowl  is  almos'  clean 
rock,  no  mud,  no  sand  to  bury  those  things  — 
just  enough  to  help  hoi'  them;  and  with  that 
glass  you  can  see  ches's,  and  timbers,  and 
casks,  all  atangled,  and  bone  and  skulls,  and 
fishes  dartin'  amongs  them  —  and  that  bowl 
have  high  side  so  that  those  things  have  not 
been  wash  out  of  it,  or  mos'  of  them.  If  it  has 
not  been  for  those  network  of  timbers,  Roy 
can  have  get  much  more;  he  only  get  two 
little  bar  of  gold;  and  I  not  let  him  go  down 
there  any  more;  it  is  terrible  to  be  all  alone 
in  that  sloop  while  he  dive ;  I  cannot  stand  the 
terror  of  him. 


106      YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

'  Then  we  come  back  here ;  and  met  Carrol 
that  Roy  have  known  beforehan'.  And  he  think 
Carrol  was  an  honest  man;  and  he  tell  him 
about  that  treasure,  and  the  company  is  form.' 
But  the  agreement  say  that  Roy  is  to  have 
three-fourth  of  that  treasure;  and  although 
Carrol  agree  and  say  that  was  fair,  he  make 
up  his  mind,  as  these  hand  show,  to  get  the  all 
of  it,  or  the  mos',  for  himself. 

'  There  not  time  now  to  tell  how  he  try  to 
murder  Roy  then,  and  get  that  paper,  and  how 
he  raise  those  authorities  agains'  Roy.  and 
Roy  have  to  escape  out  of  this  country.  And 
Carrol  follow  him,  after  he  is  giving  up  try 
to  make  me  tell.  No  time  and  no  use.  But 
listen:  I  not  want  that  treasure;  I  only  want 
Carrol.  But  I  am  of  use  to  you:  I  show  you 
the  very  place;  and  that  not  so  easy  to  fin'; 
because  there  are  days  and  days  when  it  was 
too  rough  to  use  the  glass;  and  you  have 
search  for  weeks  within  a  hondred  feet  of 
thata  place,  and  not  find  him  —  it  look  easy ; 
off  the  northwest  corner  of  the  islet  in  shallow 
water ;  but  that  not  easy.  It  take  Roy  and  me 
one  month  to  find  him  - 

Bessie  reached  out  and  drew  both  the  dis 
torted  little  hands  into  one  of  hers,  and  fell 
to  patting  them  with  the  other. 


MRS.    CUNNINGHAM  107 

"  Don't  get  excited,  you  poor  little  thing,"  she 
said,  "  and  get  to  thinking  we  don't  under 
stand.  Of  course  you  want  to  go  with  us,  and 
see  Carrol's  finish ;  and  by  the  everlasting,  you 
shall!" 

Mrs.  Cunningham's  great  eyes  filled  slowly 
with  tears,  and  suddenly  overflowed. 

"  If  you  're  going  to  cry,"  said  Bessie,  "  you 
can't  go."  And  her  own  eyes  filled  and  ran 
over;  I  think  it  was  those  poor  little  hands 
that  did  it.  "  And  —  and  you  can  p-put  that 
in  your  pipe,  and  smoke  it !  " 

The  women  dried  their  eyes  presently,  and 
left  the  restaurant,  walking  hand  in  hand  like 
two  little  children.  And  I  followed  them  with 
feelings  that  I  presume  to  be  akin  to  those  of 
an  agitated  parent. 


CHAPTER   XII 

MAGELLAN    AT    LAST 

ALTHOUGH  we  proceeded  down  the  coast  in  a 
leisurely  manner,  anchoring  sometimes  for  a 
day  or  two  in  the  chief  harbours,  a  spirit  of 
excitement  began  gradually  to  pervade  our 
whole  ship's  company;  until  finally  Chang,  dis 
appointed  from  port  to  port  in  his  efforts  to 
secure  a  Maxim,  and  an  experienced  diver  to 
go  down  in  the  suits  bought  in  Lima,  laid  the 
Shantung's  course  for  the  western  opening  of 
Magellan's  Strait. 

The  bright  weather  of  the  tropics  went  a 
little  farther  with  us ;  as  in  the  country  a  hos 
pitable  host  sees  his  departing  guests  along  the 
road  and  stands  at  last  waving  and  smiling 
until  they  are  hidden  beyond  the  turn.  For  an 
hour  or  two  one  day  we  could  look  back  into 
bright  blue  Summer;  while  ahead  mists  were 
gathering,  and  the  sea  was  a  cold  gray,  and 
the  sky.  There  was  an  end  to  happy-go-lucky 
sailing;  and  I  began  at  last  to  appreciate  the 
zeal  and  devotion  of  Chinamen  to  a  cause; 
their  delight  in  what  is  certain,  and  their  con- 


tempt  for  chance.  There  seemed  to  be  always 
some  one  aloft  searching  with  microscope  eyes 
for  flaws  in  the  rigging,  greasing  blocks  and 
trying  ringbolts ;  piece  by  piece  the  spare  can 
vas  was  overhauled;  the  mast-stays,  and  in 
deed,  any  main  reliance  or  trifle  that  might  be 
expected  to  play  traitor  and  deliver  us  to  the 
gales.  Nor  was  the  general  welfare  left  to  the 
individual  when  it  could  be  helped ;  no  one  went 
long  in  wet  clothes,  whiskey  appeared  from 
somewhere  on  that  abstemious  ship  and  was 
served  three  times  a  day  like  a  tonic;  the 
kettle  boiled  on  the  galley  stove  and  each  man 
made  tea  when  he  liked. 

The  weather  along  that  last  stretch  of  conti 
nent  was  neither  so  cold  as  I  had  expected  nor 
so  violent.  The  thermometer  ranged  in  the 
middle  forties;  the  wind  from  half  to  three 
parts  of  a  gale;  and  of  the  infinitude  of  low- 
hanging  gray  clouds  that  swept  over  us,  the 
one  burst  and  the  next  passed  without  burst 
ing.  It  did  not  rain  all  day;  but  some  days  it 
rained  a  hundred  times;  and  if  at  times  the 
clouds  opened  and  showed  a  watery  sun,  it  was 
seldom  at  high  noon  or  apt  for  the  navigator. 

Yet  of  all  the  matters,  great  or  minute,  with 
which  Chang  was  busied  day  and  night  (al 
most),  those  affecting  the  navigation  of  the 


i  io     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

Shantung  appeared  to  give  him  the  least 
anxiety.  He  was,  with  his  charts  and  com 
passes  and  parallel  rulers,  his  brushes,  and 
cakes  of  India  ink,  and,  most  important  of  all, 
the  wired  frame  with  its  movable  beads  upon 
which  he  could  perform  any  miracle  known  to 
mathematics,  the  plus  past  master  of  dead- 
reckoning.  He  moved  among  those  unknown 
seas  and  currents  as  certainly,  as  carelessly,  you 
might  say,  as  a  librarian  among  his  books ;  and 
only  at  those  rare  times  when  he  could  prove 
himself  right  to  an  inch  by  an  observation  did 
he  display  the  ghost  of  an  emotion.  Then  the 
fires  in  his  black  sloe  eyes  would  liven  for  half 
a  minute  and  play ;  or  he  might  have  been  seen 
to  catch  Lichee  by  the  foot  and  toss  him  for  a 
double  somersault,  catching  him  amid  the  swing 
and  toss  of  the  ship  w7ith  the  gentleness  of  a 
woman  and  the  certainty  of  fate. 

But  there  was  no  time  now  for  games  and 
loafings  and  amusements.  The  Shantung,  if 
never  in  actual  jeopardy,  was  in  the  midst  of 
perils  and  encountered  many  a  chance  of  mis 
chance;  and  the  characters  of  the  men  that 
sailed  her  for  all  that  \vas  in  them  began  to 
be  revealed.  Hitherto,  except  that  Chang  was 
the  captain,  and  Jili  the  jester,  if  I  may  say  so, 
I  had  seen  little  real  difference  between  them. 


MAGELLAN    AT    LAST          m 

For  weeks  I  had  even  thought  them  to  look 
very  much  alike;  but  now  it  seemed  that  Jili 
was  a  nervous,  anxious  man,  ready  enough  to 
do  his  duty,  and  manly  enough  for  that  matter, 
but  prone  to  look  with  pessimism  upon  any  un 
expected  opposition  of  the  elements;  always 
the  first  of  the  watch  to  be  on  deck,  but  not, 
I  thought,  so  much  from  extra  vigilance  as 
from  the  inability  to  sleep  soundly.  And  he 
who  had  always  been  the  first  to  see  or  to  perpe 
trate  a  pleasantry  now  wore  the  mask  of  a 
dismal  and  narrow  spirit. 

But  Chang,  in  bright  weather  docile,  I  had 
sometimes  thought,  to  the  point  of  weakness, 
never  forward  in  talk,  but  one  who  sits  back 
and,  yes,  giggles,  appeared  now  in  a  wonderful 
change  of  colour.  Into  his  voice,  higher  and 
more  womanish  than  is  common  even  among 
Chinamen,  there  came  now  the  sharp  and  jar 
ring  note  of  command ;  and  you  sprang  to  obey, 
moved  by  the  whole  strength  of  your  legs  plus 
the  impulse  of  his  voice.  The  company  met  no 
more  in  council  to  vote  upon  this  measure  or 
that;  for  decision  came  from  Chang,  as  light 
ning  from  a  storm-cloud,  and  as  overwhelm 
ingly  struck.  I  looked  upon  him  no  more  as  on 
a  man  of  a  particular  race;  but  as  upon  the 
universal  man,  born  prepared ;  he  was  the  sea- 


ii2     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

man  incarnate;  the  genius  of  navigation;  a 
figure  at  once  inspiring  and  formidable.  So 
Columbus  may  have  borne  himself,  or  the  in 
domitable  Magellan  himself  among  those  very 
seas. 

We  knew  one  morning  that  in  the  afternoon 
we  might  expect  to  enter  the  famous  strait, 
and  I  cast  many  an  excited  look  into  the  gray, 
streaming  weather  for  the  exalted  mountains 
that  I  believed  to  guard  the  entrance.  Yet  so 
thick  was  the  weather  that  I  despaired  of  catch 
ing  more  than  a  glimpse  of  that  dramatic 
portal. 

As  we  drew  into  the  coast  the  wind  became 
a  monster  to  be  reckoned  with;  baffled,  I  sup 
pose,  by  the  opposition  of  the  southwest  Andes, 
it  blew  now  from  the  west  and  now  from  the 
east  and  now  in  ferocious  circles.  Once  we 
jibed  with  a  violence  that  I  thought  must  have 
torn  our  masts  out  of  us;  and  once  the  Shan 
tung  ran  her  bows  under  solid  green  water, 
and  it  seemed  for  a  moment  as  if  she  must  go 
to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  as  a  toboggan  to  the 
bottom  of  an  iced  slide.  Sleet  rather  than  rain 
bit  the  face  and  blinded  the  eyes;  the  rigging 
gave  out  sounds  as  of  sudden  loud  singing,  and 
the  wind  roared  like  a  bull  in  the  hollow  of  the 
ear. 


MAGELLAN    AT    LAST  113 

It  was  about  noon  that  Jili,  who  was  at 
the  wheel,  gave  a  loud  cry  and  jammed  us 
suddenly  into  the  eye  of  the  wind,  to  hang  a 
minute,  and  fill  once  more  —  and  almost  as 
suddenly  —  upon  the  starboard  tack. 

That  he  alone  had  seen  the  little  sloop  that 
now  passed  along  our  lee  rail,  almost  colliding 
with  us,  must  be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  all 
eyes  were  after  mountain-tops  rather  than  sea- 
levels.  But  it  was  lucky  for  all  concerned  that 
Jili  had  seen  her  in  time  to  luff. 

She  was  almost  thirty  feet  on  the  water 
line;  a  fat,  white,  high-bowed  little  craft  that, 
looking  as  if  she  was  built  of  odds  and  ends 
of  wrecks,  behaved  like  a  witch  and  tore  over 
the  great  seas,  under  a  mainsail  reefed  to  the 
size  of  a  bed-spread,  like  a  dolphin.  Her 
course  was  the  same  as  ours;  and  before  we 
had  outfooted  her  I  read  the  name  Sting-ray 
upon  her  stern  board,  in  great  scrawly  letters 
as  if  painted  by  an  amateur  of  shipbuilding. 
She  showed  but  one  man ;  a  middle-aged  white 
man  with  a  black  beard  tucked  into  the  collar 
of  his  oilskin.  He  sailed  his  little  ship  by  a 
ramshackle  looking  tiller,  had  a  great  black 
drooping  pipe  in  his  mouth,  and  as  he  came 
parallel  with  our  stern  he  turned  to  us  a  mild, 
blue,  interested  pair  of  eyes  and,  freeing  one 


ii4     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

hand,  waved  to  Jili  and  smiled  on  either  side 
of  the  pipe-stem,  as  much  as  to  thank  that 
paper-pale  celestial  for  the  timely  and  un 
speakably  necessary  luff. 

But  it  was  Chang  that  had  the  most,  inter 
est  in  the  stranger ;  and  he  never  took  his  eyes 
off  that  brave  little  ship  until  she  had  disap 
peared  in  the  smother  astern.  Then,  without 
a  word,  he  turned,  and  himself  relieved  Jili  at 
the  wheel. 

An  hour  later,  trumpeting  my  hands,  for 
the  storm  and  the  rain  were  making  a  deafen 
ing  racket,  I  ventured  to  ask  him  a  question. 

"  How  near  now?  "  I  cried. 

For  answer  he  took  an  instantaneous  hand 
from  the  wheel  and  pointed  over  his  shoulder. 

We  had  indeed  passed  the  portals  of  the 
perilous  strait  without  seeing  them;  but, 
suddenly,  far  to  starboard,  a  cloud  tore 
apart  vertically  like  a  sheet  of  paper,  and  in 
the  swirling  rift  I  saw,  for  one  instant  of 
time,  a  jagged  peak  white  with  eternal  snow7. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

CHANG    GEOLOGISES 

THE  weather,  gray,  wet  and  cold,  with  high 
winds  and  sleet  flurries,  held  up  for  one  piping 
hot  day  of  unimaginable  calm  and  beauty. 
From  dawn  till  dark  we  passed  slowly  on 
ward  between  the  mountains,  their  heads  daz 
zling  with  the  low-drawn  snow;  their  feet 
quietly  washed  by  waters  of  an  equatorial  blue ; 
the  valleys  between  them  and  their  steep  slopes 
clothed  with  sombre  forests.  In  one  place  a 
glacier  of  a  bright  tint  of  blue  came  nearly  to 
the  water's  edge,  and  as  we  passed,  a  moun 
tainous  fragment  broke  from  it  and  fell  roar 
ing.  So  great  was  the  displacement  that  the 
waters  rushed  from  it  like  a  tidal  wave  and 
we  were  treated  for  some  minutes  to  a  nasty, 
chopping  sea. 

All  that  bright  hot  day  we  sailed  among 
fragments  of  ice;  among  half-submerged 
rocks  from  which  the  dark  sea-weeds  streamed 
for  hundreds  of  feet  around;  rising  and  fall 
ing  with  the  undulations  of  the  sea,  like  the 
hair  of  a  swimmer's  head.  And  in  those  cold 


n6     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

deep  waters  there  was  abundance  of  life  as 
in  a  tropical  forest.  Whales  and  dolphins  and 
seals  swarmed;  shoals  of  little  fishes  passed 
just  beneath  the  surface,  like  reflections  of 
silver-lined  clouds;  vast  rocks  there  were, 
white  with  sea-gulls,  and  even  the  albatross 
was  no  rare  sight. 

That  night  the  sun  went  stormily  down, 
his  face  sullen  and  crimson,  like  an  angry  per 
son's;  and  we  did  not  see  him  again  for  many 
days.  The  wind  blew  up  a  deluge  of  sleet  and 
rain;  clouds  obliterated  the  mountains;  the 
barometer  went  down  like  the  sand  in  an  hour 
glass;  and  by  midnight  we  called  the  women 
and  Lichee,  to  have  them  prepared,  in  case 
of  necessity,  for  the  worst.  But  we  passed 
through  the  danger  of  that  night  and  two 
nights  more,  and  then,  even  as  we  had  entered 
the  strait,  in  the  same  blither  of  sleet  and  mist 
and  strong  running  seas,  we  left  it  and  were 
in  the  Atlantic  at  last.  Then  we  laid  our  course 
once  more  south,  made  the  Harbour  of  Good 
Success  at  the  entrance  of  the  famous  Beagle 
Channel  and,  having  reached  the  threshold  of 
our  adventure,  came  to  anchor  for  an  earned 
and  necessary  rest. 

Chang,  upon  whom  the  anxieties  of  the  last 
perilous  weeks  had  fallen,  who  had  guessed,  felt, 


CHANG   GEOLOGISES  117 

divined  a  way,  when  for  the  most  part  there 
had  been  nothing  to  guide  him,  offered  prayers 
of  thanksgiving  to  the  strange  brass  god  in 
the  forecastle  —  going  down  alone  and  remain 
ing  for  two  hours;  he  then  smoked  opium; 
prepared  for  him  and  urged  upon  him  by  Bes 
sie;  and  lay  down,  an  ugly  open  knife  beside 
him  which  he  swore  to  use  upon  the  first  man 
that  disturbed  his  sleep,  and  slept  for  eighteen 
hours. 

Meanwhile  the  wind  abated,  the  rain  stopped 
falling,  and  the  weather  cleared  to  a  light  sun 
less  gray.  Chang  awoke,  we  weighed  anchor, 
and  sailed  into  Beagle  Channel.  The  next  day 
we  proceeded  under  shortened  sail,  with  a 
sharp  lookout  for  signs  of  the  Calliope.  We 
might  stumble  upon  her  around  any  headland, 
and  we  chose,  if  possible,  in  the  succinct  Ameri 
can,  "  to  see  her  first." 

About  noon  the  lookout  thought  he  saw  far 
ahead  a  schooner  under  full  sail;  but  Carmen, 
looking  long  through  telescoped  hands,  became 
very  much  agitated,  and  said  that  it  was  no 
ship  but  a  vast  discoloration  upon  the  face  of 
a  headland;  that  she  knew  it  well,  now  that 
she  saw  it,  and  that  in  the  bay  beyond  that 
headland  we  should  find  the  islet  that  we  had 
come  so  far  to  seek. 


iiS     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

As  we  drew  upon  the  headland,  excitement 
moved  among  us  like  some  invisible  agitator, 
whose  oratory  affects  different  persons  in  dif 
ferent  ways.  Chang  became  terse  and  morose ; 
Wong  displayed  a  shining  face  of  greed;  Jili 
talked  and  clattered  incessantly  like  a  child's 
rattle;  Bessie  had  the  crimson  cheeks  and  the 
vivacious,  dancing  eyes  of  a  girl  at  the  threshold 
of  her  first  ball;  Lichee,  perceiving  oppor 
tunity,  snatched  it  by  the  hair  and  dragged 
it  with  him  into  the  deserted  galley,  picked 
the  lock  of  the  jam-locker,  and  was  the  first  of 
our  company  to  feel  that  he  had  not  voyaged 
in  vain. 

Carmen,  alone,  in  whom  that  familiar  head 
land,  recalling  her  lover  and  her  honeymoon, 
must  have  stirred  the  ashes  of  past  joys  and 
suffering  into  flame,  fell  into  her  ordinary  calm 
demeanour. 

"  Soon  now,"  she  said,  "  we  shall  eround 
into  that  bay  and  see  that  rock  standing  in  the 
middle." 

Yet  we  passed  the  great  headland  with  its 
nature-faked  schooner  and  found,  it  is  true, 
an  indentation  like  a  narrow  fiord  that 
wound  off  into  the  cliffs,  but  no  bay;  and  a 
smaller  headland;  only  to  find  beyond  that  a 
third. 


CHANG   GEOLOGISES  119 

"  I  think  after  that  one,"  said  Carmen.  But 
a  fourth  confronted  us,  and  then  a  fifth. 

'*  But  it  was  here  —  right  here.  ...  It  was 
right  here,"  she  kept  saying.  "  I  remember 
that  fine  clear  day;  and  that  schooner.  .  .  .  ' 
And  she  became  confused  like  a  truthful  per 
son  suspected  of  lying.  Chang  and  his  mathe 
matics  bore  her  out ;  but  neither  deep  indented 
bay  nor  rocky  islet  appeared.  Those  minutes, 
in  which  what  we  had  sought  so  far  seemed 
not  to  be,  were  terribly  trying.  We  spoke  in 
whispers,  as  if  afraid  of  waking  some  one,  and 
were  pale,  one  and  all  of  us. 

Where  so  many  eyes,  hopes  and  conjectures 
were  straining  forward,  Chang  alone  appeared 
to  be  studying  the  nearby  cliffs  and  steeps  them 
selves,  even  applying  a  telescope  to  the  work. 
He  passed  an  hour  thus,  interested  apparently; 
perplexed;  but  undiscouraged.  Then,  shut 
ting  the  telescope,  he  went  forward  and  was 
no  sooner  watchfully  ensconced  in  the  bows 
than  we  opened  the  mouth  of  just  such  a  fiord 
as  that  beyond  the  first  headland.  Then  was 
Chang  a  man  transformed;  his  grave  face 
wrinkled  with  smiles  and  he  came  bounding 
aft  to  the  wheel,  laughing  shrilly.  He  headed 
the  Shantung  straight  for  the  mouth  of  the 
fiord  and,  a  quarter  of  an  hour  later,  hav- 


120     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

ing  discovered  a  suitable  anchorage,  himself 
wreathed  in  smiles,  put  her  into  the  wind  and 
gave  the  order  to  anchor. 

I  thought  that  the  tempestuous  and  nerve- 
racking  passage  of  Magellan  had  unhinged 
the  man's  mind;  but  not  at  all.  He  sent  for 
his  paint-brush,  his  cake  of  ink  and  a  sheet  of 
paper.  Spreading  the  latter  upon  the  deck, 
he  knelt  by  it,  and  in  a  ring  of  completely 
puzzled  faces,  began  to  draw. 

The  first  picture  was  something  like  this 
(only  beautifully  drawn),  and  when  it  was 
finished  he  explained.  And  in  English  that 
all  might  understand. 


Touching  with  his  finger  the  point  that  I 
have  marked  A,  he  said :  "  That  white  schooner 
ship  on  rock;  all  same  now."  Then  running 
his  finger  along  the  dotted  line  B  C,  "  Him 
old  time  bay,"  he  said;  and,  "  him,"  —  here  his 
finger  moved  to  X  —  "  him  lilly  lock.  Chang 
think  lilly  lock  one  time  top  side  fire  mountain ; 
Chang  think  earthquake  come  along  and  lift 


CHANG    GEOLOGISES  121 

lilly  lock  out  of  bay."     He  drew  a   second 
picture. 


Then,  his  finger  back  at  X,  "  Lilly  lock,"  he 
said,  "  now  big  lock;  fill  um  old  time  bay  full; 
not  all  full,  leave  lilly  bit."  And  he  moved  his 
fingers  along  the  Channel  B  C ;  and  then,  point 
ing  to  D,  "  Chang  think  Shantung  stop  here; 
here  now  -  Here  he  sprang  to  his  feet, 
and  with  sharp,  quick  gestures :  "  Chang 
think,"  he  cried,  "  no  dive  down  for  gold;  think 
climb  up,  and  find  him  top  side  lilly  lock ;  Chang 
look,  and  think  old  time  lilly  lock  new  time  big 
lock ;  and  Chang  think  him  land  now  and  look 
lilly  more." 

"What  makes  think  new  land,  Chang?"  I 
said. 

For  answer  he  pointed  into  the  air,  and  said : 
"  See  um  old  rotten  whale,  topside  lilly  cliff, 
all  same  sea- weed;  Chang  think  earthquake 
raise  um  lilly  lock;  raise  um  bottom,  raise  um 
hell.  Chang  look  and  see  lilly  tlee  (tree)  all 
same  size  Lichee;  all  tlee  lilly  tlee;  no  see  big 
tlee;  Chang  think  land  new,  all  same  baby." 


CHAPTER 
FOURTEEN 


OPPOSITE  the  schooner,  although  the  water  in 
the  fiord  was  smooth  as  a  ribbon,  it  appeared 
impracticable  to  land  or  make  an  ascent ;  nor 
could  we  sail  any  farther  owing  to  the  dead 
calm  that  prevailed.  But  it  was  necessary  to 
investigate  Chang's  theory  of  the  former  islet's 
having  risen;  and  to  find  out  whether  Carrol 
and  the  Calliope  were  in  the  vicinity.  So  we 
got  one  of  the  boats  overboard,  and  four  of 
us  embarked :  Chang  and  I  to  go  ashore  at  the 
first  favourable  place  and  explore  the  land; 
Wong  and  A  Fing  to  proceed  cautiously  along 
the  fiord,  returning  for  us  about  sundown. 

I  was  still  wondering  why  Chang  had  selected 
me  to  be  his  companion,  when  he  gave  an  order 
and  the  boat  was  turned  at  right  angles  to  her 
course  and  run  head  on  for  a  shelving  pocket 
of  sand.  From  this  point  a  wide  fissure  in  the 
rocks  ran  backward  and  upward  and  appeared 
to  lead  easily  and  directly  to  the  higher  levels 
which  we  were  desirous  of  gaining.  And 
such,  indeed,  proved  the  case;  and  the  ascent, 


JERRY    TOP  123 

even  Lo  a  man  encumbered  with  a  heavy  Win 
chester,  was  by  no  means  difficult.  At  an  ele 
vation  of,  perhaps,  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  we 
came  out  of  the  fissure  upon  a  great  space  of 
rock  and  sand  whose  general  level  was  broken 
by  ridges  and  fissures. 

That  the  formation  had  not  been  long  out 
of  water  must  have  been  evident  to  a  child; 
mingled  with  almost  any  handful  of  sand  were 
to  be  found  pieces  of  fish-bone,  and  whole  and 
fragmentary  shells,  the  colours  still  bright  and 
fresh  upon  them;  the  profusion  of  little  beech 
trees  two  and  three  feet  high,  and  no  higher, 
was  significant  —  a  clean-picked  skeleton  of  a 
seal  or  sea-lion  disordered  by  the  thrusting 
stem  of  a  beech;  these  and  a  thousand  other 
evidences  went  far  to  proving  Chang's  theory. 

Levelish  as  the  plateau  was  in  general  effect, 
and  far  as  the  eye  carried,  yet  a  thousand  men 
might  have  been  concealed  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  us;  and  for  this  reason  we  kept  as 
much  to  the  hollows  and  below  the  surface, 
so  to  speak,  as  possible.  In  the  midst,  but  far 
off,  the  plateau  rose  to  a  kind  of  truncated  cone; 
and  that,  as  the  highest  point  visible,  we  con 
ceived  might  be  the  old  time  islet  itself ;  indeed, 
a  sharp  discoloration,  extending  horizontally 
and  bisecting  the  cone's  altitude,  had  even  at 


124     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

that  distance  the  look  of  an  old  high-water 
mark;  and  so  sure  was  Chang  that  he  elected 
to  proceed  no  farther  toward  it  at  that  time, 
but  to  strike  across,  at  right  angles,  to  the  fiord 
and  follow  its  windings  from  above.  My  im 
pulse  (and  mine  are  seldom  wise)  was  to  hasten 
to  the  cone,  prove  it  the  ancient  islet,  find  the 
cove  where  the  galleon  had  sunk  and  fill  my 
pockets  with  treasure.  But  Chang,  uniting 
as  he  did  the  boldness  of  a  fanatic  with  the  cau 
tion  of  a  Hebrew,  preferred  first  to  locate 
Carrol  and  the  Calliope. 

Why  I  clung  to  the  idea  that  we  had  nothing 
to  fear  from  Carrol  and  his  gang  I  do  not 
know.  Our  own  perilous  voyage,  perhaps,  had 
to  do  with  this,  and  the  desolateness  of  the 
region  in  which  we  found  ourselves.  Because 
I  saw  no  sign  of  man,  I  was  ready  to  believe 
that  none  was  to  be  seen,  and  yet  at  the  very 
moment  that  I  was  imparting  these  unreason 
able  thoughts  to  the  patient  Chang  there  was 
a  man  within  a  dozen  feet  of  us.  And,  as  we 
learned  afterward,  he  had  never  been  much 
farther  off  during  the  whole  of  our  exploration. 

To  reveal  himself  he  chose  a  strategical  op 
portunity,  with  a  way  of  retreat  in  reserve. 
We  were  passing  between  two  great  rocks ;  he 
had  climbed  to  the  top  of  that  on  the  right  hand 


JERRY    TOP  125 

and  was  watching  us,  torn  between  timidity  and 
loneliness.  A  pebble  fell  at  my  feet ;  I  looked 
up  and  saw  a  copper-brown  face  that  my  as 
tonished  glance  seemed  to  split  into  an  im 
measurable  grin  and  to  set  bobbing  up  and 
down.  I  caught  Chang  by  the  arm,  and  he, 
too,  looked  up  into  that  idiotically  good-natured 
face.  Black  hairs,  thick  as  wool,  matted  the 
individual's  head;  and  black  hairs,  rare  as  in 
leprosy,  stuck  ridiculously  from  his  chin.  And 
he  smiled  and  he  bobbed  and  he  bobbed  and  he 
smiled. 

"  Good  afternoon,"  I  said,  and  was  aston 
ished  to  be  answered  in  English. 

"  Me  well,  thank  you ;  me  hope  you  very 
well." 

"  Who  are  you  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  You  not  shoot,  me  come  down  and  tell." 
He  seemed  to  wait  my  answer  nervously. 
Chang  took  the  rifle  out  of  my  hands  and  laid 
it  aside,  together  with  his  own.  Then  the  grin 
ning  savage  came  out  entire  upon  the  top  of  the 
rock,  and  leaped  down.  He  was  a  little,  knotted, 
bow-legged  man  and,  unless  you  count  a  with 
ered  looking  twig  with  a  few  yellow  leaves 
that  he  carried  in  one  hand,  absolutely  naked. 
Now  it  must  be  remembered  that  although  I 
had  begun  the  conversation,  it  was  to  Chang 


126     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

as  to  the  man  of  importance  that  the  savage 
at  once  proceeded  to  address  himself. 

Well,  there  followed  so  comic  a  conversation 
in  broken  English  that  politeness  alone  kept  me 
from  splitting  apart  with  laughter;  but  the 
subject  of  their  discourse  became  presently 
serious  enough  to  have  sobered  the  most  un 
redeemed  buffoon. 

The  savage's  English  name  was  Jerry  Top. 
He  had  sailed  five  years  before  the  mast  on  a 
Yankee  whaler,  and  hence  his  English  and  his 
civilisation.  Then,  it  seems,  he  had  been 
beaten,  unjustly,  had  leaped  overboard  in  a 
snow-storm,  and  now  behold  him  here.  Oh  yes, 
thank  you,  he  lived  very  well.  But  he  was 
very  lonely.  He  had  been  a  ladies'  man  in  his 
day;  a  family  man;  indeed  a  man  of  many 
families.  He  wished  very  much  to  sail  before 
the  mast  once  more.  God  knows  he  was  tired 
of  living  alone.  Would  we  take  him  with  us? 

There  were  some  men  —  and  here  his  infor 
mation  became  startling  —  over  there.  They 
had  come  in  a  schooner;  and  they  kept  put 
ting  different  ones  of  them  in  a  curious  suit  of 
clothes  and  dropping  them  overboard  at  the 
end  of  a  rope.  He  did  not  know  why.  It  was 
funny  to  see;  but  even  he  had  tired  of  it, 
watching  them  from  the  cliff.  He  had  ap- 


JERRY    TOP  127 

preached  them,  and  they  were  very  bad  men. 
They    were    not   jolly;     they    never    laughed. 
They  were  very  bad.    They  had  given  him  a  - 
—  good  beating.     But  we  were  different;    we 
looked  like  very  jolly  men.    Had  we  any  ladies 
aboard  ?     He  would  be  glad  to  see  a  lady  - 
just  to  see  one.     He  was  terribly  lonely.     He 
became  embarrassed  and  attempted  to  shield  his 
countenance  behind  the  twig  which  he  carried. 

Chang  reached  forward  suddenly  and  took 
the  twig  out  of  the  man's  hand.  He  examined 
it  a  moment,  and  then  passed  it  to  me,  his  nar 
row  slant  eyes  round  with  astonishment.  And 
with  reason,  for  the  thing  was  no  part  of  a 
vegetable  growth,  but  a  much  battered  speci 
men  of  wonderfully  wrought  and  hammered 
gold.  Chang  turned  to  Jerry  Top  and  smiled. 

"  You  tell  where  find  um,"  he  said,  "  Chang 
take  you  way  on  ship;  kind  all  same  brother. 
Where  you  find  um? ' 

Jerry  Top  turned  and  started  off  at  full 
speed;  but  Chang  overtook  him. 

"  To-mollow,"  he  said,  "  Go  back  ship  now. 
Chang  think  lilly." 


CHAPTER   XV 

SOME   OF    US    GO    TREASURE    HUNTING 

WE  had  not  to  wait  te"n  minutes  at  the  landing 
place  for  the  return  of  Wong  and  Ah  King. 
These  at  first  were  very  big  \vith  news;  but 
collapsed  like  balloons  on  learning  that  we,  too, 
knew  that  the  Calliope  was  somewhere  along 
the  fiord;  we  laughed,  though,  with  a  com 
mon  impulse,  to  think  of  Carrol  and  his  gang 
so  absurdly  employed  in  diving.  Jerry  Top 
laughed  too,  very  heartily,  but  he  could  not 
have  explained  why. 

It  was  evident  that  Carrol  had  not  guessed 
at  the  change  of  topography  which  the  region 
had  so  recently  undergone;  and  Chang  him 
self  must  have  been  longer  in  finding  it  out 
if  he  had  not  had  Carmen  and  her  clear  mem 
ory  aboard  the  Shantung  to  spur  his  ingenuity. 
We  congratulated  ourselves  heartily  upon  the 
situation;'  and  it  was  odds  but  that  we  could 
lift  the  bulk  of  the  treasure,  and  get  away 
with  it,  while  Carrol  continued  to  explore  the 
bottom  of  the  fiord.  He  might,  I  told  myself, 
so  employ  himself  for  the  rest  of  the  time  for 


SOME    GO    TREASURE    HUNTING    129 

all  I  cared.  And  the  general  wish  was  to  leave 
him  severely  alone,  rascal  and  murderer  though 
he  was. 

Carmen,  however,  wished  in  the  frank  Span 
ish  manner  to  be  less  subtly  revenged,  and  made 
no  bones  about  saying  so.  And  she  took  no 
part  in  our  premature  rejoicings,  but  looked 
on  us  coldly  as  on  people  who  had  cheated  her, 
treating  no  one  to  a  smile  but  Jerry  Top.  He, 
indeed,  was  deserving  of  smiles ;  for  no  sooner 
had  he  set  foot  upon  the  schooner  than  he 
became  the  incarnation  of  childish  joy  let  loose. 
We  had  great  ado  to  catch  him,  and  clothe  him 
decently;  he  ran  hither  and  thither  like  a  mon 
goose,  poking  his  nose  into  the  cabin,  into  the 
forecastle,  flashing  brownly  aloft,  sliding  with 
furious  speed  down  the  jibstay;  giggling,  leap 
ing  and  cracking  his  heels  together,  and  snap 
ping  his  fingers ;  and  firing  off  broadside  after 
broadside  of  his  ridiculous  and  profane  Eng 
lish.  And  when  we  waked  him  the  next  morning 
at  dawn,  and  told  him  that  he  must  act  as  guide 
to  the  place  where  he  had  found  the  golden 
twig,  he  flew  into  a  childish  passion  of  reluc 
tance  at  the  idea  of  quitting  the  ship. 

As  we  presumed  on  many  loads  of  treasure 
in  the  course  of  the  next  few  days,  it  seemed 
best  to  move  the  Shantung  until  she  lay  opposite 


130     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

the  little  beach  where  Chang  and  I  had  landed ; 
but  as  there  was  not  a  breath  of  wind  we  were 
obliged  to  take  to  the  boats,  and  tow  her.  And 
a  slow,  dismal  process  it  was.  But  all  things 
have  an  end,  and  at  last  she  was  snugly 
anchored  in  the  new  berth,  perhaps  a  hundred 
fathoms  from  the  landing  place.  We  cut  a 
pack  of  cards  to  see  who  should  go  treasure 
hunting,  and  who  should  stay  at  home  and  keep 
ship.  Of  the  latter  were  Bessie  and  Car 
men,  willy  nilly;  and  after  the  first  round  of 
cutting,  it  appeared  that  Jili,  much  to  his 
disappointment,  must  also  remain.  Another 
round  disposed  of  Wong,  and  still  another  of 
Ah  Fing.  Chinamen  are  proverbially  great 
gamblers;  and  the  excitement  displayed  upon 
the  present  occasion  was  no  exception  to  the 
rule.  You  might  have  thought  that  the  treas 
ure  itself  was  to  belong  to  those  who  went 
ashore,  instead  of  the  more  arduous  task  of 
hunting  for  it.  Yet  had  we  but  known  it,  we 
were  playing  for  higher  stakes  than  gold  and 
gems,  and,  with  the  exception  of  Jerry  Top 
and  myself,  those  who  stayed  aboard  the 
Shantung  were,  for  a  time,  the  lucky  ones. 

The  shore  party,  led  ex-officio  by  Chang, 
consisted  of  Jerry  Top  (once  more  allowed  the 
privilege  of  nakedness),  Wu  Lo,  San  Lo,  Ho- 


SOME   GO    TREASURE   HUNTING    131 

ang,  Man  Lo,  myself;  and  at  the  last  moment 
that  little  beggar,  Lichee,  slipped  into  the  boat, 
and  resisted  ejection  so  firmly  and  plaintively 
that  Chang,  usually  firm  and  decided,  could  not 
make  up  his  mind  to  disappoint  him.  The 
chords  of  discipline  were  relaxed,  and  Chang 
complained  sheepishly  that  he  would,  if  neces 
sary,  carry  the  child  upon  his  shoulders;  the 
ways  of  children  were  mysterious;  it  might 
be  that  Lichee  would  be  the  grain  thrown  into 
the  scale  of  chance  that  would  bring  us  luck. 
He  ordered  Wu  Lo  and  Hoang  to  give  way, 
and  presently  we  had  landed  and  hauled  out 
the  boat  on  the  beach.  With  the  exception  of 
Jerry  Top  who  carried  two  spades  and  was 
very  sulky  at  finding  himself  once  more  ashore, 
each  man  toted  a  Winchester  and  an  empty 
breadsack;  and  Hoang,  a  wonderfully  powerful 
fellow,  had  in  addition  a  pickaxe  and  a  package 
containing  food.  By  a  common  impulse,  we 
turned  before  commencing  the  ascent  of  the 
fissure  and  waved  to  our  friends  aboard  the 
Shantung;  and  Bessie  flung  us  a  frank  shower 
of  kisses  (I  believe  I  was  included)  and  snatch 
ing  up  a  megaphone,  called  in  her  large,  hu 
mourous  voice: 

"  Don't  come  back,  Jim,  without  my  tarara." 
Then  we  turned  and  began  to  ascend.     It 


132 

was  an  easy  climb  for  grown  men,  but  very  try 
ing,  I  expect,  to  the  short,  dimpled  legs  of 
Lichee.  And  it  was  delicious  to  observe  the 
manifest  determination  of  the  child  not  to 
abuse  his  privileges  by  making  a  nuisance  of 
himself.  He  fell  repeatedly,  but  treated  such 
mischances  with  the  quiet  contempt  which  they 
deserved,  and  made  up  for  them  by  redoubled 
efforts.  He  must  have  been  on  the  point  of 
bursting  when  at  last  we  reached  the  plateau, 
and  the  going  made  less  savage  assaults  upon 
the  heart  and  lungs. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

THE   AMBUSH 

JERRY  TOP  was  for  making  by  the  shortest  line 
for  the  truncated  cone  that  Chang  and  I  had 
decided  to  be  the  old  time  islet.  But  Chang, 
the  ultimate  destination  being  once  indicated, 
himself  assumed  the  part  of  guide,  choosing  a 
route  which,  if  at  times  anything  but  direct, 
kept  our  heads  below  the  general  level  and  our 
feet  upon  substances  that  left  no  mark.  It 
would  not  do,  he  said,  for  Carrol  or  one  of  his 
men  to  come  by  chance  upon  a  broad  trail,  and 
follow  it  to  where  the  treasure  lay.  There  must 
be  no  trace  of  our  comings  or  goings,  else  the 
business  upon  which  we  were  engaged  must  be 
discovered.  Not  to  hurry  breathlessly  forward 
rent  the  heart ;  but  no  one  except  the  irrepres 
sible  Top  thought  for  one  moment  of  going 
against  Chang. 

Once  we  heard  a  shot  from  far  off  to  the 
left  in  the  general  direction  of  the  Calliope,  and 
we  could  see  the  thin  smoke  of  a  fire  towering 
to  the  sky;  and  once  a  flock  of  crows  flew  sud 
denly  upward  from  a  distant  hollow,  cawing 


134      YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

angrily  as  if  they  had  been  disturbed  in  the 
midst  of  a  feast;  but  of  other  disquieting  signs 
we  had  none.  Nor  had  we  need  of  exterior  ex 
citement,  for  that  furnished  by  the  quest  on 
which  we  were  engaged,  and  every  man's  in 
ward  anticipations  sufficed.  I  may  liken  my 
feelings  to  those  of  a  nervous  bridegroom  on 
his  way  to  church,  sure  that  he  is  late  and  be 
lieving  every  watch  to  be  a  liar. 

About  nine  o'clock  we  were  in  the  shadow 
of  the  cone,  and  twenty  minutes  later  we  were 
looking  down  into  a  kind  of  a  bowl,  the  bottom 
choked  with  sand  and  little  beech  trees.  The 
bowl  had  the  exact  bearing  to  the  cone  that  the 
submarine  berth  of  the  Espiritu  Santo  had  had 
to  the  rocky  islet  off  which  she  went  down,  and 
it  was  with  a  kind  of  galvanic  spasm  of  ex 
citement,  and  (I  think)  dread,  that  I  leaped 
into  the  place,  and  plunged  my  hand  into  the 
sand  as  if  each  grain  of  it  must  prove  a  gold 
coin.  A  sharp  exclamation  from  Hoang 
brought  me  to  my  feet.  He  had  found,  not 
a  bar  of  gold,  but  a  black  and  rotted  frag 
ment  of  timber.  It  went  rapidly  from  hand  to 
hand,  and  we  ejaculated  and  exclaimed;  and 
swore  that  it  w^as  a  part  of  a  ship.  But  if  we 
had  expected  (and  I  for  one  had)  to  find  all 
manner  of  precious  things  laid  out  as  on  a  shelf 


THE    AMBUSH  135 

in  Tiffany's  we  were  doomed  to  disappoint 
ment.  If  the  treasure  was  anywhere  in  that 
bowl  of  rock,  it  was  beneath  the  accumulation 
of  sand  and  beech  leaves  that  choked  the  place, 
and  we  must  dig.  But  where  to  begin?  Even 
Chang  was  at  a  loss;  he  looked  across  the 
place,  and  around  it,  and  up  and  down  it,  and 
rested  his  chin  upon  the  heel  of  his  hand, 
and  frowned;  then,  quite  suddenly,  and  with 
out  any  change  of  expression,  as  one  of  those 
persons  gifted  with  the  ability  to  find  four- 
leaved  clovers  stoops  and  picks  one  surely  from 
a  clump  where  all  the  others  have  but  three, 
so  Chang  stooped,  and  picked  from  the  sand 
between  his  feet  a  raw  green  emerald  as  big 
as  a  California  cherry.  He  held  it  between  his 
thumb  and  forefinger  and  turned  it  slowly 
this  way  and  that  for  all  to  see.  Then,  point 
ing  between  his  feet: 

"  Chang  think,  dig  here,"  said  he,  and 
stepped  back. 

At  Hoang's  second  powerful  thrust,  the  edge 
of  his  spade  struck  with  a  kind  of  chug  into 
something  solid.  He  paused,  grinned  from 
ear  to  ear,  and,  as  an  actor  sure  of  his  effect: 

"  Him  feel  like  gold,"  said  he,  and  with  a 
quick,  deep  scoop  he  brought  up,  upon  the  broad 
of  the  spade,  a  chunky  ingot  of  the  virgin  metal. 


136     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

Then,  indeed,  the  digging  became  fast  and 
furious,  with  the  two  spades,  the  pick  and  bare 
hands;  even  Jerry  Top  caught  the  excitement, 
and  began  to  dig  like  a  dog,  stooping  and  send 
ing  a  shower  of  sand  backward  between  his 
legs.  As  luck  would  have  it,  we  had  lighted 
first  of  all  on  the  ingots,  long  since  burst  from 
their  chests  and  scattered,  and  to  be  found  now 
in  twos  and  threes  and  now  singly;  and  often 
for  long  periods  of  furious  digging  not  at  all. 
We  dug  as  men  eat  who  have  a  train  to  catch ; 
I  have  never  seen  men  in  such  a  passion  of 
hurry;  nor  do  I  exclude  myself.  I  dug  myself 
to  the  verge  of  exhaustion,  and  kept  on  dig 
ging.  I  was  dimly  aware  that  it  had  come 
on  to  rain;  that  it  was  pouring;  that  I  had  a 
great  to-do  keeping  my  own  private  excavation 
from  filling,  and  could  make  but  precious  little 
progress  downward  or  laterally;  and  still  I 
dug,  bare  handed,  with  torn  nails  and  bleeding 
knuckles. 

We  dug  without  rest,  one  and  all  of  us,  not 
excepting  Lichee,  from  half  past  nine  until  one 
o'clock.  Then  the  pouring  rain  became  a  veri 
table  deluge,  and  upon  the  sharp  and  thrice 
repeated  command  of  Ghang  we  stopped  re 
luctantly. 

The  gold  was  parcelled  out,  and  loaded  into 


THE    AMBUSH  137 

the  strong  bread  bags ;  even  Lichee  was  given 
an  ingot,  and  leaving  the  spades  and  the  pick, 
we  began  to  climb  out  of  the  bowl.  I  remem 
ber  laughing,  aching  as  I  was  with  fatigue,  to 
think  how  easy  it  had  been  to  reach  the  place, 
poor ;  how  arduous  it  was  to  leave  it,  rich. 

Owing  to  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  we 
began  the  return  journey  with  less  caution ;  as 
sured  that  none  would  be  abroad  to  spy  upon 
us,  and  that  the  rain  would  soon  obliterate  all 
tracks.  Chang  in  the  lead  moved  very  swiftly, 
and  it  was  only  by  the  most  strenuous  and 
courageous  exertion  that  for  a  time  I  kept 
his  pace.  Then  I  began  to  lag  behind,  and 
Lichee,  glad  of  an  excuse  to  ease  his  fat  little 
pins,  lagged  with  me.  What  with  the  digging, 
and  the  excitement,  and  the  gold  I  carried  and 
the  rifle,  I  was  near  dead,  and  soon  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  I  must  lighten  my  burden  or 
incontinently  collapse.  As  the  rifle  seemed 
of  no  particular  use,  I  laid  it  aside  together 
with  my  cartridge  belt  in  the  cleft  of  a  great 
split  rock,  whence  I  should  have  no  difficulty 
in  recovering  it  next  day;  and  once  more 
dragged  myself  onward. 

After  many  ages  of  time,  I  saw  that  Chang, 
now  far  ahead,  had  reached  the  upper  end  of 
the  fissure  that  marked  the  termination  of  the 


138     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

journey;  and  as  the  rain  had  now  settled  into 
a  light  drizzle,  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  would 
sit  down  if  only  for  a  moment,  and  rest. 

"  Lichee,"  I  said,  "  Melican  man  no  can  do; 
sit  down  or  bust." 

So  I  sank  upon  a  rock  with  a  groan  of  relief, 
and  Lichee,  his  lips  scornfully  curling,  stood 
waiting  until  I  should  be  ready  to  go  on. 

I  watched  Chang  and  the  others  disappear 
one  by  one  into  the  fissure;  Hoang,  the  last 
to  go  down,  turning  at  the  last  moment  and 
beckoning  impatiently  to  me  to  follow.  And 
I  had  at  last  risen  to  do  so  when  I  saw  a  bulky 
bearded  man  (and  even  at  that  distance  I  knew 
him  for  Carrol  despite  the  beard)  rise  from  be 
hind  a  rock,  step  to  the  brink  of  the  fissure,  and 
lean  cautiously  forward  until  he  could  look 
down  into  it.  Then,  freeing  one  hand  from  the 
rifle  that  he  carried,  he  made  a  gesture  of 
beckoning,  and  seven  more  men  emerged  from 
their  hiding  place,  and  joined  him.  A  moment 
the  eight  stood,  looking  down  upon  the  heads 
of  Chang  and  the  others,  surmising,  perhaps, 
the  contents  of  those  obviously  ponderous  bread 
bags.  Then,  and  the  thing  was  so  sudden  that 
I  had  not  even  the  time  to  shout  a  warning, 
the  eight,  as  one  man,  put  their  rifles  to  their 
shoulders,  depressed  the  muzzles  to  the  per- 


THE    AMBUSH  139 

pendicular,  and  fired  a  broken  murderous  vol 
ley.  One  harsh,  sharp  cry  as  of  a  man  in  his 
mortal  agony  came  from  the  fatal  depth  of 
the  fissure,  and  no  more. 

And  I,  seized  by  an  accursed,  unmanly, 
damned  panic,  slipped  from  my  load  of  gold, 
caught  Lichee  by  the  hand,  and  fled  away  in 
land,  with  a  power  and  burst  of  speed  that  were 
almost  demoniac. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

A    REPRISAL 

THE  flight,  begun  in  a  very  mania  of  fear,  was 
without  goal  or  logic.  But  as  I  ran,  some 
times  jerking  Lichee  completely  off  his  feet, 
the  tragedy,  whose  inside  workings  I  had  been 
a  witness  to,  hung  before  me  like  a  painting. 
I  saw  those  poor  Chinamen  who  had  been  my 
friends  and  comrades  huddled  shockingly  in 
unprovoked  death,  face  down,  face  up,  among 
the  rocks.  I  saw  the  murderers  descend  warily 
to  put  the  finishing  touches  upon  the  crime; 
to  put  the  knife  into  that  body  which  still  con 
tained,  perhaps,  the  breath  of  life;  and  to  rob 
the  dead  men  of  their  gold. 

I  do  not  know  at  what  point  in  my  flight 
grief  got  the  better  of  fear ;  at  what  point  grief 
yielded  to  shame.  I  know  that  I  ran  slower 
and  slower,  muttering  and  talking  to  myself; 
and  that  gradually  a  passion  of  anger  rose 
strongly  from  some  unknown  hollow  of  my  na 
ture,  as  a  full  river  and  flooded  me.  Then, 
as  suddenly  as  I  had  begun  flight,  I  broke  it 
off;  stopped  short,  and  faced  about.  My  im- 


A    REPRISAL  141 

pulse  to  go  back  was  almost  as  strong  as  that 
which  had  brought  me  where  I  stood.  But  the 
folly  of  so  doing  beat  me  to  a  standstill  with 
swift,  sharp  strokes.  I  had  the  courage  to  go 
back,  plenty  of  it,  and  to  sell  my  life  as  dearly 
as  possible  —  but  to  what  end?  I  was  un 
armed,  and  a  long  way  from  where  I  had  left 
my  rifle  and  cartridge  belt.  If  I  went  back  it 
must  be  to  strike  some  terrible  blow.  Armed 
and  from  above  I  might  massacre  the  enemy 
as  they  had  massacred  us;  but  even  now  they 
must  have  finished  their  work  in  the  fissure,  and 
were  probably  climbing  out  with  the  gold. 
There  was  no  longer  time  to  take  them  at  that 
particular  disadvantage.  How  else  could  I 
strike  them?  What  would  be  their  next  step? 
Why,  back  to  their  own  schooner,  of  course, 
to  put  the  gold  aboard.  There  were  eight  of 
them,  but  the  gold  was  heavy.  Neither  would 
they  feel  any  need  to  hurry.  Even  if  they  knew 
that  I  had  been  of  the  shore  party,  they  would 
not  disturb  themselves  with  the  thought  of  any 
thing  that  I  might  do.  It  was  that  -  -  the  con 
tempt  in  which  I  believed  myself  to  be  held  — 
that  finally  goaded  me  into  action;  which,  in 
the  event  of  there  being  no  more  than  eight 
all  told  in  Carrol's  party,  would  be  as  easy  of 
accomplishment  as  rolling  off  a  log.  Roughly, 


142      YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

my  plan  was  to  get  to  the  Calliope  before  Car 
rol  and  his  men;  and  if,  as  I  expected,  she 
proved  to  be  unguarded,  to  board  her  in  one 
of  Carrol's  boats,  set  her  on  fire,  and  return 
in  the  same  boat  to  the  Shantung.  That  stroke, 
I  thought,  would  put  the  enemy  at  the  mercy  of 
those  of  us  who  survived.  But  I  could  not 
risk  Lichee  in  any  such  desperate  business, 
and  for  a  few  moments  more  I  hesitated. 
Then,  knowing  the  child's  natural  qualities  of 
patience  and  obedience,  I  appealed  to  them. 

"  Lichee,"  I  said,  "  you  sit  here,  no  matter 
how  long.  Maybe  Melican  man  come  back; 
maybe  Jili  come;  maybe  Bessie.  You  give 
word  Melican  man  you  not  move  till  some  one 
come?  " 

Lichee  seated  himself  stolidly,  but  with  a 
wondering  look  in  his  eyes. 

"  Allight,"  he  said. 

I  bent  over  on  the  impulse,  and  kissed  his 
forehead. 

"  God  keep  you,  little  Lichee,"  I  said,  "  and 
grow  you  into  a  fine  strong  man." 

Then  I  turned  and  hurried  off  upon  my 
errand.  I  knew  about  where  the  Calliope  must 
be  anchored;  and  made  for  that  point  as  fast 
as  the  precaution  of  keeping  below  the  sky  line 
would  permit.  I  kept  a  pretty  good  lookout  for 


A    REPRISAL  143 

Carrol's  party,  halting  from  time  to  time,  and 
poking  my  head  over  some  easily  accessible  ele 
vation,  but  saw  nothing  of  them,  or  theirs ;  un 
til,  after  some  twenty  minutes  of  going,  I  came 
to  the  beginning  of  a  long  sweeping  downward 
slope,  and  saw  at  the  foot  of  it  the  waters  of 
the  fiord,  and  the  Calliope  at  anchor.  Two  of 
her  boats  were  drawn  up  on  the  shore,  and  a 
third  floated  under  the  stern ;  but  there  was  no 
sign  of  a  guard,  nor  of  Carrol's  returning. 
There  might,  of  course,  be  some  one  below 
decks  on  the  schooner  herself;  but  that,  as  well 
as  the  open  nature  of  the  slope  down  which  I 
must  descend,  were  chances  that  had  to  be 
taken.  And  as  the  deed  might  hang  on  the 
turn  of  a  moment,  I  flung  further  discretion 
to  the  winds  and  raced  down  the  long  incline. 
The  larger  of  the  two  boats  had  been 
drawn  beyond  high  water  mark  and  lay,  bot 
tom  up,  as  if  under  repair.  There  were 
plenty  of  sizable  stones  strewn  about,  and 
with  the  help  of  these  I  had  in  a  few  minutes 
reduced  her  to  kindling  wood.  Sure  now 
that  no  one  was  aboard  the  Calliope,  else  the 
smashing  of  the  one  boat  must  have  been 
heard,  I  managed,  thanks  to  the  strength  left 
me  by  anger  and  excitement,  to  launch  the 
other,  put  a  couple  of  great  stones  aboard, 


144     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

and  after  an  awkward  interval  of  rowing  to 
lay  her  alongside  the  Calliope. 

I  opened  the  schooner's  three  hatches  to 
give  my  fire  a  proper  draft,  and  went  below 
to  find  inflammable  materials.  Her  hold  sup 
plied  these:  a  barrel  of  tar  and  a  great  heap 
of  straw  jackets  off  \vine  bottles.  I  broached 
the  tar  barrel  until  I  had  a  great  black,  sticky 
pool  of  the  stuff;  to  this  I  laid  a  thick  train, 
or  fuse,  of  the  straw  jackets,  and  then,  at  the 
very  moment  of  accomplishment,  was  baulked 
by  the  discovery  that  I  had  no  match. 

All  amuck  with  a  sudden  cold  s\veat,  I  tore 
on  deck  and  aft  to  the  cabin.  Here  \vas  a 
narrow  table  covered  with  oil  cloth,  and  set 
for  eight;  a  dish  of  maggoty  biscuits;  a  plat 
ter  with  traces  of  gravy  upon  it;  a  half  dozen 
bottles  of  red  wine  with  the  drawn  corks  re 
placed  in  their  necks;  yellow  and  filthy  butts 
of  cigarettes;  and  in  the  seat  of  a  camp-stool 
(I  have  often  \vondered  how  it  came  there) 
a  half  spilled  box  of  safety  matches. 

I  came  out  of  the  cabin,  and  after  one 
good  look  at  the  shore,  \vhich  revealed  no 
sign  of  life,  once  more  descended  to  the  hold, 
and  set  fire  to  my  straw  fuse ;  tended  the  stuff 
until  it  was  burning  fiercely  toward  the  spilled 
tar;  and  then  bethought  me  of  a  retreat.  So 


A    REPRISAL  145 

quick  was  the  fire  that  smoke  accompanied  me 
to  the  deck.  Landward  all  was  as  before,  and 
having  leaped  into  the  boat  in  which  I  had 
come,  and  headed  her  round  under  the  doomed 
Calliope's  stern  and  split  the  other  boat  by 
means  of  the  stones  which  I  had  brought,  I 
pushed  off,  seated  myself  at  the  oars,  and  began 
to  row  down  the  fiord  in  the  direction  of  the 
Shantung. 

By  now  the  black  smoke  was  pouring  from 
all  three  of  the  Calliope's  hatches ;  and  I  could 
hear  a  loud  roaring,  like  that  of  far  off  surf. 
Then  the  depths  of  those  black  smoke  clouds 
began  to  glow;  and  were  presently  shot  with 
tongues  of  furious  red  flame.  Somehow  the 
conflagration  that  I  had  caused  made  me  feel 
very  small  and  insignificant;  the  mountains 
beyond,  with  their  vast,  white,  peaceful  man 
tles  of  snow ;  the  wide,  black  quiet  of  the  fiord ; 
the  immensity  and  the  awful  gravity  of  nature 
in  those  regions. 

I  steered,  by  the  burning  schooner,  without 
troubling  to  turn  my  head;  and,  owing  more 
to  the  tide  which  was  setting  out  than  to  my 
own  exertions,  made  a  satisfactory  progress. 
I  was  thinking,  I  remember  well,  that  the 
burning  of  the  schooner  was  now  a  glorious 
thing  to  see;  that  I,  an  atom,  had  struck  a 


146     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

formidable  blow;  that  Carrol  and  his  fellow 
murderers  must  soon  put  in  an  appearance.  I 
wondered  if  they  would  follow  my  retreat  and 
pot  me  at  long  range  from  the  island  cliffs. 

Then  the  progress  of  my  boat  stopped  sud 
denly  with  a  kind  of  soft,  jerky  jar,  and  a 
voice  through  which  there  ran  the  most 
hideous  and  shocking  calm  of  repressed  fury 
and  cruelty  pierced  into  my  brain  like  a  knife. 

"  Good  evening,  Jim!  " 


CHAPTER   I     m  I  l   RETURN 

^^_  TO   THE 

TEEN  I    *  Ji  SHANTUNG 


WHY  it  had  not  occurred  to  me  that  Carrol 
might  possibly  elect  to  run  the  Shantung's 
fire  and  return  to  the  Calliope  by  water,  in  the 
very  boat  which  had  been  waiting  to  ferry 
us  and  the  treasure  to  the  Shantung,  I  shall 
never  know.  I  had  counted  absolutely  on  his 
returning  by  land ;  and  what  with  the  burning 
schooner  to  rivet  my  attention,  and  an  occa 
sional  examination  of  the  shore,  had  not  once 
turned  my  head  to  see  where  I  was  going. 
And  now,  blithering  idiot  that  I  was,  I  had 
rowed  straight  into  my  enemies'  boat.  Indeed, 
Craven,  crouching  in  her  bows,  had  but  to 
reach  out  his  hand,  take  my  boat  by  the  stern 
and  make  her  captive.  And  this  it  was  that 
made  the  effect  of  that  soft,  giving  jar  that  I 
had  felt. 

In  that  moment  of  horror  it  is  impossible 
that  I  should  have  noticed  how  overladen  was 
the  enemies'  boat  with  men  and  treasure,  and 
how  it  was  only  by  the  nicest  trimming  that 
she  was  kept  from  taking  in  water  over  one 
gunnel  or  the  other.  But  it  was  to  this  fact 


148     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

that  I  owed  the  deliberation  and  care  which 
Craven  was  obliged  to  exercise  in  securing  first 
my  boat,  and  then  me.  The  furious  faces  of 
the  men  in  the  deep-laden  boat,  crimson  with 
the  reflection  of  the  burning  Calliope,  were 
like  the  faces  of  so  many  devils  in  a  pantomime. 
For  a  moment  I  was  paralysed,  as  if  I  had  been 
hit  across  the  spine,  and  sat  looking  over  my 
shoulder  into  the  wicked,  red  faces  and  ready, 
waiting  hands  toward  which  Craven  was 
stealthily  drawing  me.  Then,  as  a  rat,  tor 
mented  and  frightened  beyond  endurance, 
turns  upon  a  dog,  I  leaped  to  my  feet,  snatched 
an  oar  from  the  oarlock,  and  struck  a  shocking 
blow  at  Craven's  face. 

Unprepared  as  he  was  for  a  show  of  fight, 
he  lurched  heavily  to  one  side  and  escaped 
the  brunt  of  the  blow;  but  in  so  doing  de 
stroyed  the  nice  balance  by  which  his  boat  was 
kept  afloat  and  the  water  rushed  strongly  over 
her  starboard  gunnel.  Two  men  rose  to  their 
feet  and  leapt  frantically  in  opposite  direc 
tions;  and  where  a  moment  before  there  had 
been  a  boat  filled  with  cruel  resource  and  pur 
pose,  there  was  now  but  black,  ice-cold  water 
and  panic-stricken  men  swimming  desperately 
for  their  lives. 

A  fat  hand  with  a  diamond  ring  on  the  little 


149 

finger  (and  I  recognised  it  for  Carrol's)  seized 
the  gunnel  of  my  boat;  I  smashed  it  furiously 
with  the  oar;  it  disappeared.  Then  I  began 
to  paddle  desperately,  first  on  one  side,  then 
on  the  other,  to  free  myself  from  any  further 
menace  of  that  kind.  But  there  was  no  need; 
my  enemies,  half  paralysed  by  the  cold  and  their 
heavy  clothes,  were  making  for  the  shore,  with 
one  exception.  That  was  Craven.  The  blow 
that  had  missed  his  face  had  fallen  heavily  upon 
his  forearm ;  he  must  have  been  an  indifferent 
swimmer  at  best,  and  it  was  evident  that  with 
out  help  he  must  drown. 

Despairing  of  reaching  the  shore,  he  turned 
and  swam  toward  me,  with  the  most  pitiful 
cries  and  entreaties.  But  I  backed  warily  away 
from  him. 

"  For  God's  sake,  help  me,  Parrish !  "  he 
said. 

"  No,"  said  I,  "  not  for  billions.  If  you  are 
drowning,  I  'm  glad  of  it.  The  sooner  the 
better.  The  world  will  be  quit  of  a  dirty 
coward  —  " 

"  Parrish,"  he  said,  "  don't  let  me  —  "  water 
entered  his  open  mouth;  he  strove  to  spit  it 
out,  became  confused,  and  sank.  A  moment 
later  his  head  emerged  once  more,  the  eyes  roll 
ing  horribly.  I  could  not  stand  this. 


ISO     YELLOW   MEN    AND    GOLD 

"  Hold  on  tight/'  I  said,  "  I  'ra  corning." 

But  that  attempt  at  mercy  came  near  to 
being  my  last.  For,  whether  the  man  was 
crazed  by  peril  or  malevolent  to  the  last,  he 
seized  the  gunnel  of  my  boat  in  both  hands, 
and  struggled,  it  seemed  to  me,  less  to  climb  in 
than  to  overturn  her. 

"  Look  out,  you  '11  upset  her,"  I  cried. 

He  only  redoubled  his  efforts  to  do  so.  I 
rammed  the  oar  frantically  into  his  face,  and 
saw  him  no  more. 

Had  I  been  left  with  the  heart  to  do  so,  I 
might  have  paddled  after  the  enemy,  and  (as 
a  cruiser  with  a  fleet  of  merchantmen)  dealt 
with  them  one  by  one.  That  I  ought  to  have 
done  so  I  do  not  for  one  moment  doubt;  I 
thought  of  doing  so,  and  I  could  not.  I  paddled 
a  stroke  or  two  toward  the  nearest  swimmer, 
and  the  oar  became  heavy  in  my  hand,  like  the 
trunk  of  a  tree;  I  swayed  dizzily.  Then  sud 
denly  that  man  who  was  third  in  the  race, 
without  a  cry  or  any  sudden  convulsion,  quietly 
sank. 

I  sat  down,  all  dazed  and  sick,  and  while  my 
boat  drifted  slowly  down  the  fiord,  watched  as 
in  a  trance  the  leading  swimmer,  which  was 
Carrol,  reach  the  shore,  and  draw  himself 
slowly  out  of  water.  Thanks  to  his  thick  de- 


I    RETURN   TO   THE   SHANTUNG    151 

posit  of  adipose,  and  his  strength  of  a  brute  he 
had  not  only  distanced  his  companions  by 
twenty  yards,  but  had  taken  his  rifle  safe  out  of 
the  catastrophe.  Perceiving  this  I  came  to  my 
senses,  seized  the  oars  once  more,  and  rowed 
for  dear  life.  There  wras  a  point  of  a  rock, 
high  and  rounded,  beyond  which  I  should  be 
in  safety;  but  it  was  evident  that  before  reach 
ing  it  I  must  stand  the  hazard  of  half  a  dozen 
shots. 

Carrol  must  have  been  either  an  indifferent 
marksman,  or  so  breathed  by  exertion  that  he 
could  not  hold  his  rifle  steadily,  for  the  first 
bullet  flew  wide ;  and  rather  than  risk  a  second 
I  jumped  deliberately  overboard,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  boat  from  Carrol,  and  clinging  to 
her  with  one  hand,  kicking  with  my  feet,  and, 
borne  by  the  tide,  was  soon  in  safety;  and 
scrambling  back  into  the  boat  (a  gruelling  bit 
of  work)  once  more  manned  the  oars,  and 
half  an  hour  later  (it  was  falling  very  dark), 
exhausted  and  cold  almost  to  the  point  of  in 
sanity,  I  heard  Bessie's  voice  hailing  me  from 
the  Shantung,  and  a  few  minutes  later  was 
alongside. 

"  Where  's  Lichee?  "  she  said  sharply. 

"  I  had  to  leave  him,  Bessie,"  I  said,  "  but 
he  's  in  a  safe  place.  And  he  promised  to  wait 


152     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

till  some  one  came  for  him.  You  've  got  to 
give  me  food  and  a  drink,  and  then  I  'm  ready." 
'  Thank  God,  the  kid  's  safe,"  said  she,  and 
burst  into  tears. 

There  was  an  atmosphere  of  deep  gloom 
aboard  the  Shantung  and  an  ominous  quiet. 
My  story  of  burning  the  Calliope  was  received 
with  a  certain  grim  satisfaction;  but  it  was 
easy  to  see  that  it  was  the  intention  to  exact  a 
far  more  terrible  vengeance  than  that  for  the 
massacre  in  the  fissure. 

Jerry  Top  was  the  only  survivor.  The  sight 
of  the  Shantung  had  preserved  him.  For  so 
eager  was  he  to  be  once  more  comfortably 
aboard  and  in  full  enjoyment  of  ship  life,  that 
the  very  moment  before  the  fatal  volley  had 
been  fired  he  had  broken  into  a  run,  thus,  by 
a  strange  fatality,  dodging  whatever  bullets 
had  been  intended  for  him.  Panic  stricken, 
he  had  dropped  his  load  of  treasure,  redoubled 
his  pace,  leapt  into  the  water,  and  amphibious 
by  nature  and  only  emerging  now  and  then 
for  breath,  had  made  his  escape.  But  Chang, 
Hoang,  Wu  Lo,  San  Lo,  Man  Lo;  those  old 
friends  and  tried  comrades,,  would  not  speak 
to  us  any  more.  Their  bodies  had  been 
brought  off;  and  Bessie  drew  me  into  the 
cabin  where  they  had  been  laid  side  by  side 


I   RETURN   TO   THE   SHANTUNG    153 

as  befitted  brothers,  and  under  one  covering. 
I  shall  never  forget  the  sight  of  those  five 
yellow  faces ;  very  grave  in  death,  but  peaceful 
and  mystic.  I  stood  with  Bessie  for  some  time 
looking  at  them,  and  talking  quietly  about 
them;  recalling  acts  of  kindness  and  thought- 
fulness;  praising  Chang's  sea-genius  to  his 
dead  face ;  and  Hoang's  bountiful  strength  and 
good  nature,  to  his. 

"  Now,"  said  Bessie,  "  you  must  go  after  the 
boy,  Jim." 

The  hot  tears  were  pouring  down  her  cheeks, 
and  down  mine,  too.  I  patted  her  clumsily  on 
the  shoulder  and  we  went  out  of  the  cabin. 

"  One  thing  I  don't  understand,  Bessie,"  I 
said,  "  why  you  let  Carrol  get  away  in  the  boat 
right  under  your  noses." 

"  Why,"  she  cried,  "  it  was  so  damned  sud 
den,  Jim!  We  were  eating  dinner,  and  won 
dering  when  you'd  all  be  coming  back;  and 
nobody's  rifle  was  handy  or  loaded.  We 
were  n't  expecting  anything.  And  then  we 
heard  the  shots  and  ran  on  deck,  and  could  n't 
make  out  what  had  happened.  And  we  stood 
round  like  a  lot  of  dummies,  jabbering  and 
guessing — then  they  came  with  a  rush,  and 
were  in  the  boat,  and  getting  away,  before  you 
could  say  Jack  Robinson;  and  Jerry  Top  was 


154      YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

half  way  out  to  us  before  we  could  get  our 
guns  and  begin  to  shoot;  and  they  shot  back; 
and  I  guess  there  was  n't  much  damage  done 
on  one  side  or  the  other;  then  they  got  round 
a  corner  —  pretty  damned  quick,  too,  —  and 
that  was  the  end  of  that  .  .  .  Hello,  what  was 
that?" 

We  stood  listening  with  bated  breath. 

"  Ship — a — hoy !  "  The  sound  came  faintly 
from  somewhere  high  up,  or  so  it  seemed. 

"  Some  one 's  hailing  us  from  the  cliff," 
Bessie  said.  We  joined  the  others  who  were 
gathered  amidships,  their  faces  turned  toward 
the  sound.  Presently  the  hail  was  repeated. 

'  That 's  Carrol,"  I  said.  Jili  exclaimed 
savagely. 

"  Are  you  d-e-e-e-af  ?  "  came  the  voice. 

Bessie  called,  "  Hello  there !  "  at  the  top  of 
her  voice  and  then,  through  the  megaphone 
that  I  handed  her,  "  what  do  you  want?" 

And  the  voice  came  back  with  a  kind  of  sus 
tained,  intoned  effect. 

"  Got  a  little  stra-a-nger  here." 

"My  God!  "I  cried,  "  Lichee  - 

Jili  turned  sharply  upon  me,  but  I  could  not 
see  his  face  for  the  darkness. 

"  He 's  in  good  ha-ands,"  came  the  voice 
again,  "  don't  worry." 


I   RETURN   TO   THE   SHANTUNG     155 

"Shall  I  send  a  boat  ashore  for  him?" 
Bessie  called,  and  her  voice  shook. 

This  brought  laughter  out  of  the  night,  and 
then  : 

'  Think  it  over  till  mo-orning." 

"  Lichee!  "  Bessie  cried. 

It  seemed  to  some  of  us  that  we  heard  one 
piping  note  of  the  child's  voice  that  was  cut 
short  as  by  a  hand  clapped  upon  his  mouth. 

'  We  '11  ta-alk  in  the  mo-orning,"  came  the 
voice.  I  snatched  the  megaphone  from  Bessie's 
nervous  hand. 

"  Carrol,"  I  cried,  "  you  '11  not  hurt  the 
child."  The  answer  came,  very  drawn  out,  and 
quieter." 

"  Not  till  we  Ve  ha-ad  our  ta-alk." 

And  though  I  called  to  him  again  and  again, 
he  wasted  no  more  words  upon  us  that  night. 
Nor  did  sleep  waste  her  favours  upon  us;  the 
rain  came  down  in  torrents,  and  there  was 
much  far  off  thundering.  Carmen,  Jerry  Top 
and  I  kept  dismal  company  in  the  galley;  now 
renewing  the  fire;  now  talking  a  little;  now 
nodding  and  dozing.  In  the  cabin  Bessie  kept 
watch  with  the  dead,  while  in  the  forecastle 
the  Chinamen  burned  joss-sticks  and  prayed  to 
the  god  of  little  children,  all  through  the  night. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

AN    EXCHANGE 

THERE  was  never  a  more  gray  and  sodden  day 
break;  even  the  lively  red  of  Jerry  Top's  skin, 
like  the  coals  in  the  galley  fire,  had  an  ashen 
look.  The  piercing  dampness  and  the  unprece 
dented  exertions,  exposure  and  immersion  of 
the  day  before  had  tied  my  muscles  into  rheu 
matic  knots.  I  had  caught  a  heavy  cold,  and  my 
nose  from  being  constantly  blown  was  now  sore 
to  the  touch.  Of  us  three  Carmen  appeared  to 
have  come  through  that  troubled  night  best; 
she  sat  erect  upon  a  camp-stool,  staring  straight 
before  her,  her  hands  folded  in  her  lap,  her 
great,  black  stag  eyes  steady,  brilliant  and 
unwinking.  I  rose,  very  painfully,  and  one  of 
my  knees  cracking  like  a  pistol  shot,  she  turned 
her  eyes  and  smiled. 

"Carmen,"  I  said,  "once  and  for  all  I'm 
on  your  side  now.  I  want  to  see  that  man 
Carrol  die  —  very  slowly." 

She  nodded,  and  raising  her  eyebrows, 

"Tea?  "she  said. 

The  word  brought  Jerry  Top  to  life,  so  to 


AN    EXCHANGE  157 

speak.  He  bounded  to  his  feet,  and  had  the 
kettle  filled  in  no  time ;  and  I  fed  the  fire  with 
fresh  coal  and  a  few  teaspoonfuls  of  kerosene. 
Presently  the  fragrant  smell  of  tea  filled  the 
galley,  and  escaping  thence,  like  a  rumour, 
reached  Bessie  in  the  cabin,  and  the  Chinamen 
in  the  forecastle.  Bessie  was  the  first  to  join 
us,  white  and  heavy-eyed;  but,  as  always, 
energetic  and  efficient.  And  she  spoke  cheer 
fully,  and  tried  to  make  us  believe  she  was 
hungry ;  when,  poor  anxious  mother,  she  could 
not  even  choke  down  a  cup  of  tea.  Then  came 
Jili  and  the  others,  haggard  from  the  night  of 
prayer,  and  half  asphyxiated  by  the  fumes  of 
the  joss-sticks.  They  had  no  word  of  greet 
ing  for  any  one ;  but  now  and  then  one  or  other 
of  them  rolled  upon  me  a  baleful  and  malev 
olent  eye;  as  if  I  alone  had  been  to  blame  for 
our  misfortunes.  And  I  tell  you  it  was  mighty 
hard  to  bear  after  the  long  weeks  of  friendship 
and  good  fellowship.  I  had  come  to  think  that 
they  liked  me  —  for  myself;  but  it  was  plain 
enough  now  that  I  was  no  more  to  them  than 
a  shaving  of  wood.  If  Lichee's  mother  for 
gave  me  for  leaving  the  boy  alone  on  the  island, 
why  not  these  men,  no  one  of  whom  was  re 
lated  to  him?  The  burning  of  the  Calliope, 
and  the  drowning  of  two  of  our  enemies,  did 


158     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

not  seem  to  count  a  whit  in  my  favour;  and 
what  with  that,  the  suffocating  cold  in  my 
head,  and  my  aching  bones,  I  think  the  dawn 
discovered  on  the  whole  of  God's  earth  no  man 
so  wretched  as  I. 

About  eight  o'clock  Carrol  hailed  us  from 
the  landing  place,  and  waving  a  white  hand 
kerchief  at  the  end  of  a  stick,  asked  us  to  send 
a  boat  ashore  to  bring  him  off  to  the  schooner. 
Jili  went  alone;  but  on  the  chance  of  some 
further  treachery,  Ah  Fing,  who  was  the  best 
shot  among  us,  lay  down  against  the  bulwarks 
and  steadily  held  a  cocked  rifle  sighted  on  Car 
rol's  bulky  person.  But  Carrol  was  by  way 
of  playing  fair  for  once,  and  stepping  nimbly 
aboard  the  boat  which  Jili  backed  ashore  to  re 
ceive  him,  was  soon  alongside,  much  dismantled 
by  a  night  of  exposure,  but  calm,  nonchalant 
and  even  tempered.  As  he  came  aboard  he 
apologised  to  Bessie  for  his  appearance ;  and  it 
was  only  at  recognising  Carmen  that  he  sho\ved 
a  sign  of  uneasiness.  He  bowed  to  her,  but  she 
looked  steadily  through  him,  as  it  were,  and 
beyond;  turned  presently  on  her  heel,  and  went 
back  into  the  galley. 

"  Jim,"  said  Carrol  easily,  "  who  does  the 
talking  for  this  crowd?" 

"  I    guess,"    said    Bessie,    "  that    anything 


AN    EXCHANGE  159 

you  Ve  got  to  say  will  be  attended  to,  some 
how.  So  fire  away." 

"Are  you  the  mistress  of  this  ship?"  said 
Carrol,  without,  I  think,  meaning  to  play  on 
words;  but  Bessie  flushed  angrily. 

"  If  you  've  come  to  make  a  deal,"  she  said, 
"  stick  to  business." 

"  Oh,"  said  Carrol,  "  I  beg  your  pardon. 
Now  how  about  a  fire?  Couldn't  we  talk 
better  over  a  fire? " 

"  I  guess  we  can  talk  here,"  said  Bessie. 

'  Just  as  you  say,"  said  Carrol,  and  he  looked 
very  much  disappointed,  for  he  was  soaking 
wet,  and  blue  with  the  cold. 

'''  First,"  said  Bessie,  "  is  the  boy  alive,  and 
unhurt  ?  ' 

"  He  's  cold  and  wet,  like  the  rest  of  us," 
said  Carrol,  "  but  he  has  n't  been  hurt  —  yet." 

"  Come  to  the  point,  Carrol,"  I  broke  in, 
"  we  don't  stand  for  threats  in  this  crowd." 

"  Oh,  yes,  the  point,"  said  he,  as  if  he  had 
forgotten  that  he  had  come  with  any  particular 
intention.  "  The  point  is  we  've  no  immediate  use 
for  the  child ;  he  knows  where  the  treasure  is,  of 
course ;  but  as  he  does  n't  understand  a  word  of 
English  .  .  .  What  are  you  smiling  at,  Jim  ?  " 

"  I  was  smiling,"  I  said  quickly,  "  to  think 
of  your  trvino-  to  talk  Chinese." 


"  Well,  smile,"  said  he.  "  I  tried  all  right; 
Chinese,  English  and  gesticulation.  But  the 
boy  's  only  a  baby  after  all  —  and  a  thicker 
baby  I  never  tried  to  enlighten.  Now,"  said  he, 
turning  directly  to  Bessie,  "  we  have  n't  hurt  a 
hair  of  the  child's  head;  and  we  propose  to 
give  him  back  to  you  safe  and  sound.  Our 
differences,  after  all,  are  grown-up  differences, 
and  there 's  no  use  dragging  a  baby  into 
them." 

"  Well,"  said  Bessie,  "  you  return  the  boy ; 
and  what  must  we  do?  ': 

'  You,"  said  Carrol,  "  must  give  us  a  grown 
man  in  exchange." 

:<  Would  a  woman  do?  "  said  Bessie  quickly. 

"  You  bet !  "  said  Carrol,  his  eyes  shining. 

"  Then  that 's  settled,"  said  Bessie,  "  I  go." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Carrol,  "  it 's  a  bargain." 

Bessie  turned  and  made  a  step  toward  the 
boat ;  but,  Jili  slipped  in  front  of  her,  ordered 
her  back  with  a  savage  gesture,  and  poured  out 
a  sudden  shrill  torrent  of  Chinese. 

"  Right  O,"  said  Bessie,  and  she  turned  to 
Carrol.  "  Jili  says,"  said  she,  "  that  you 
would  n't  keep  your  word  if  I  did  go.  And 
I  think  he  's  right.  How  about  it?  " 

Carrol  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  You  've  got  to  trust  somebody,"  he  said. 


AN    EXCHANGE  161 

"Yes,  Carrol,"  said  I,  "but  I  don't  believe 
the  Lord  God  himself  could  give  any  reason 
why  that  somebody  should  be  you." 

"  Perhaps  you  're  right,"  he  said  cheerfully, 
"  and  that  being  the  case,  why  I  '11  have  to  trust 
you.  Give  me  your  word,  Jim,  that  if  I  bring 
the  boy  aboard,  you  '11  turn  the  woman  over 
to  me,  and  let  us  depart  in  peace,  as  the  saying- 
is."  But  Jili  interrupted  again,  and  with  much 
finality. 

''  Bessie  not  go  anyhow,"  he  said,  and  drew 
back  as  if  that  was  the  end  of  that. 

"  Well  then,"  said  Carrol,  "  who  will?  " 

"  What  will  happen,"  Bessie  asked,  "  if  no 
one  goes  ?  " 

'  Why,"  said  Carrol,  "  as  far  as  I  'm  con 
cerned,  nothing.  But  there  's  Todd  to  be  reck 
oned  with,  and  one  or  two  others  that  are  n't 
as  fond  of  little  half-breed  children  as  I  am. 
They  're  quite  a  little  put  out  by  the  way  things 
have  gone,  and  if  they  can't  trade  the  boy  for 
somebody  more  useful,  why  they  're  bound  to 
have  their  fun  with  the  boy.  I  dare  say 
they  'd  be  willing,  and  even  apt,  to  carry  their 
fun  somewhere  where  you  could  hear  it 
going  on  .  .  .  ' 

Jili  cut  him  short. 

"  Fetch  boy,  Jili  go." 


162      YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

"  Why  you?  "  said  Bessie. 

There  came  a  strange,  tender  look  into  the 
black  sloe  eyes,  and  a  blush,  I  will  swear,  into 
the  yellowr  cheeks. 

I  think  that  no  woman  has  ever  received  a 
declaration  under  stranger  circumstances.  And 
her  reception  of  it  was  characteristic  and  frank. 

"  It  won't  do,  Jili,"  she  said,  "  but  thank  you, 
and  God  bless  you !  " 

"  Jili,"  said  he,  quietly,  "  die  for  lilly  boy,  all 
same  glad ! " 

"  Can't  you  cut  some  of  this  palaver  out?  " 
said  Carrol  brutally.  "  I  'm  half  perished.  I 
don't  care  who  goes;  decide  for  yourselves; 
only  it 's  got  to  be  some  one  who  knows  where 
the  treasure  is." 

'  Then,"  said  I,  and  I  am  afraid  my  voice 
faltered,  "  Jili  won't  do.  It 's  up  to  me." 

"  Come,  now,"  said  Carrol,  "  decide  some 
thing  quick." 

"  What 's  the  use  of  your  knowing  where  the 
stuff  is?  You  can't  get  away  with  it." 

"  Oh,"  said  Carrol  easily,  "  we  '11  take  Jim 
here  as  a  hostage,  keep  him  safe,  and  in  return 
\ve  '11  just  ask  you  to  give  us  and  the  treasure 
a  lift  to  the  nearest  port.  You  all  like  Jim, 
don't  you?  " 

"  You  bet  we  do,"  cried  Bessie,  in  her  big 


AN    EXCHANGE  '163 

hearted  voice,  —  I  think  to  warm  my  heart  and 
give  me  courage.  "  And  I  '11  tell  you  this," 
said  she,  "  Mister  Carrol,  if  you  hurt  a  hair 
of  his  head  —  that  is  if  he  does  go  with  you  — 
somehow  or  other  I  '11  hunt  you  down,  and  get 
you  in  my  power,  and  give  you  the  finest  work 
ing  idea  of  hell  that  any  man  ever  had  this  side 
of  there.  And  you  can  put  that  in  your  pipe, 
and  smoke  it." 

All  her  colour  came  back  for  the  moment, 
and  her  eyes  flashed  splendidly. 

"  Then  Jim  goes,"  said  Carrol. 

"  I  suppose  so,"  said  I,  in  a  miserable,  small 
voice. 

"  And  you  give  me  your  word  that  when  I 
bring  the  boy  off  safe  and  sound  you  '11  go  with 
me?" 

There  was  a  moment  of  silence. 

"  Jim,"  said  Bessie,  "  if  you  don't  feel  free 
to  do  it,  don't." 

"  Free  ?  "  said  I.  "  I  admit  the  thought  of 
it  makes  me  sick  .  .  .  '  I  turned  quickly 
to  Carrol,  lest  my  half-hearted  resolution  fail 
me  completely. 

"  I  give  you  my  word,"  I  said  hastily. 

A  hand  clasped  me  strongly  on  the  shoulder. 
I  turned  and  saw  Jili's  face  illuminated  as  from 
within. 


164     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

'  Jili  not  forget,"  said  he,  "  not  never."  He 
turned  and  motioned  Carrol  into  the  boat. 

"  When  shall  we  expect  you  back,  Carrol?  " 
I  asked. 

"  In  about  an  hour,"  said  he,  and  went  over 
the  side. 

"  Now  then,  Jim,  said  Bessie,  "  you  go  into 
the  forecastle  with  the  boys,  and  they'll  rub 
your  stiff  joints,  and  freshen  you  up.  And, 
mind  you,  you  don't  run  any  danger  with  Car 
rol.  Your  life  's  pretty  near  as  useful  to  them 
as  it  is  to  you." 

"  But,  Bessie,"  I  said,  "  they  '11  want  me  to 
show  them  where  the  treasure  is ;  and  I  'm  in 
duty  bound  not  to  tell  them ;  and  then  they  '11 
try  to  make  me.  It 's  that  that  gives  me  the 
shakes  to  think  of — if  I  thought  they'd  just 
knock  me  on  the  head  and  be  done  with  it,  all 
right ;  but  I  Ve  got  to  try  to  stand  up  to  them 
like  a  white  man,  and  a  gentleman,  and  I  'm  not 
very  good  at  —  at  pain,  Bessie." 

"  You  damned  long-legged  Pin-head,"  said 
she,  and  her  voice  which  she  strove  to  make 
jovial  and  bold  was  very  tremulous  and  moved. 
"  Why  in  hell  should  n't  you  tell  them  where  the 
treasure  is  ?  At  least  have  the  sense  and  kind 
ness  to  save  us  the  trouble  of  sifting  it  all  out 
of  the  sand." 


AN   EXCHANGE  165 

'You  think  it's  no  harm  to  tell  them?"  I 
cried  eagerly. 

"  It 's  the  only  thing  to  do,"  said  she  posi 
tively. 

The  anticipation  of  immediate  torture  being 
done  away  with  raised  my  spirits  like  wine; 
and  an  hour  of  rubbing,  with  whiskey,  kneading 
and  pommelling,  enabled  me  to  greet  the  safe 
return  of  Lichee  with  real  joy. 

Not  one  word  had  the  child  spoken  to  his 
captors  during  the  whole  of  his  captivity;  but, 
his  shrewd  intellect  masked  by  a  blank  and  stu 
pid  expression,  he  had,  it  appears,  after  his  first 
fright  and  surprise,  even  laughed  at  them  in  his 
sleeve.  Wet,  bedraggled,  chilled  to  the  bone, 
but  calm  and  unperturbed,  he  came  over  the 
side,  and  ran  with  little  solemn  steps  to  Bessie, 
buried  his  face  against  her  dress,  and  then,  and 
then  only,  his  pent-up  feelings  found  their  nat 
ural  expression  in  a  burst  of  weeping,  of  which 
he  was  afterward  terribly  ashamed. 

In  answer  to  Carrol's  impatient  "  Are  you 
coming,  Jim,  or  not  ?  "  I  slid  over  the  side  into 
the  bow  of  the  boat.  Jili  shoved  off  and  headed 
her  slowly  for  the  shore. 

Then  Lichee,  his  face  all  teary  still,  but 
wreathed  in  smiles,  ran  to  the  bulwarks. 

"  Hey  man!  "he  called. 


166     YELLOW   MEN    AND    GOLD 

Carrol  turned  his  face  and  looked  sourly  at 
the  boy. 

"  Me  'peak  English,"  cried  Lichee,  "  all  same 
Melican  man !  "  And  he  stuck  out  his  red 
tongue  at  Carrol,  and  jumped  up  and  down 
with  uncontrollable  satisfaction. 


CHAPTER 
TWENTY 


GUIDING 
THE  ENEMY 


'''  WELL,"  said  Carrol,  "  that 's  one  or  two  or 
several  on  me !  " 

And  several  times  during  the  short  row  he 
came  out  with  a  tickled  chuckle.  But  I  was  too 
wretched  and  afraid  to  see  any  humour  in  any 
thing;  and,  furthermore,  the  whole  of  my 
faculties  were  concentrated  in  an  effort  to 
understand  what  Jili  was  saying  to  me  be 
tween  strokes.  He  spoke  in  Chinese,  very 
slowly,  using  very  simple  words,  and  I  gath 
ered  at  last  that  he  was  tempting  me  to  break 
faith  with  Carrol.  The  matter,  according  to 
Jili,  was  of  simple  accomplishment:  we  must, 
on  reaching  shallow  water,  rise  suddenly 
against  Carrol;  kill  him  (Jili  would  attend  to 
that  with  his  knife) ;  and  retreat  covered  by 
the  Shantung's  rifles.  But  when  I  answered 
that  I  had  given  my  word,  and  would  not  break 
it,  I  was  rewarded  by  the  ringing  note  of  ad 
miration  that  came  into  his  voice;  and  he 
praised  me  over  his  shoulder;  and  said  that  I 
was  honest  as  a  Chinaman.  Then  he  gave  me 


168     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

a  piece  of  advice:  if  I  found  myself  in  iminent 
danger,  I  must  throw  false  pride  to  the  winds 
and  scream  at  the  top  of  my  lungs ;  and  when 
I  seemed  most  deserted  and  alone,  I  must  be 
lieve  that  help  was  somewhere  near  at  hand. 
Also,  if  I  had  a  chance  to  run  for  it,  I  should 
find  the  boat  waiting  near  the  landing.  All 
that  mere  man  could  do  for  me,  in  short,  Jili 
proposed  to  do.  Rather  than  lose  me,  he  said, 
he  would  return  to  China  and  desecrate  the 
graves  of  his  ancestors.  And  at  parting  he 
shook  hands  with  me;  but  not  with  the  cold, 
limp  handshake  that  is  characteristic  of  China 
men;  he  gripped  my  fingers  so  that  I  felt  his 
friendship  run  like  an  electric  message  up  my 
arm,  and  into  my  faint  heart. 

"  Well,  Jim,"  said  Carrol,  "  let 's  be  moving. 
The  boys  are  waiting  up  top,  and  they  '11  be 
glad  to  see  you  —  you  're  almost  the  only  thing 
so  far  that  has  come  our  way.  Todd  %s  still 
with  us  —  you  remember  Todd  —  a  bright  little 
feller?" 

:<  I  remember  him  very  well,"  I  said. 

But  the  steep  incline  of  the  fissure  made  con 
versation  difficult;  and  here  and  there  traces 
of  blood  not  entirely  dissolved  by  the  rain 
acted  on  my  hearing  like  plugs  of  cotton.  It 
was  a  positive  relief  to  exchange  the  dark  sug- 


GUIDING   THE    ENEMY         169 

gestion  of  the  place  for  the  cold  windy  heights 
and  the  suddenly  met  members  of  Carrol's  party. 
They  were  waiting  for  us  near  the  fissure's 
upper  end;  and  Todd,  stepping  quickly  from 
them  with  a  natural  and  hearty  "  How  are  you, 
Parrish,"  offered  me  his  hand.  And  so  strong 
is  the  habit  of  certain  practised  conventions, 
I  took  it,  bloody  murderer's  though  it  was. 

I  was  in  a  shocking,  quaking  state  of  uneasi 
ness  to  be  there  alone  among  the  enemy,  cut 
off  from  my  friends,  and  with  no  earnest 
that  I  should  live  to  tell  the  tale.  Else  I  must 
have  been  positively  amused  at  the  droll,  be 
draggled  figure  cut  by  that  conscienceless  gang. 
Their  dry  clothes  had  mingled  their  smoke 
with  that  of  the  Calliope;  the  clothes  they  had 
on  were  still  wringing  wet  from  the  night  of 
rain  and  grotesquely  shrunken ;  nor  could  these 
miserable  adventurers  have  counted  one  white 
nose  among  them;  coughing,  snuffling,  hawk 
ing,  and  spitting  great  gobs  of  phlegm,  wiping 
their  sore  and  fiery  noses  on  their  soaked  hand 
kerchiefs  or  wet  rasping  coat-sleeves,  greed 
alone  kept  them  yet  awhile  on  their  feet;  and 
their  rough  beards,  the  accumulation  of  dirt  in 
the  corners  of  their  eyes,  their  split  disgusting 
finger-nails  were  in  astonishing  contrast  to  the 
clean  shaven,  sprucely  groomed  Chinamen  I 


1 70     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

had  left  behind.  I  noted  too,  and  with  lively 
satisfaction,  that  but  two  rifles  had  survived 
the  upset  in  the  fiord ;  and  these  looked  for  all 
the  world  as  if  red  rust  had  gone  into  their 
original  assemblage  instead  of  gun  metal. 
How  I  wished  that  my  friends  might  suddenly 
appear,  out  of  God  knows  where,  fall  upon 
that  dejected  and  almost  defenceless  group  and 
deliver  me ! 

:<  Well,"  said  Carrol,  as  if  divining  my 
thoughts,  "  wre  're  richer  than  we  look;  and 
Jim,  it 's  up  to  you  to  prove  it." 

"  In  what  way?"  I  asked. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  I  always  found  you  rea 
sonable  ;  and  I  hope  for  your  own  good  you  '11 
be  reasonable  now." 

In  spite  of  the  man's  wretched  physical 
state,  he  chose  to  talk  in  bantering  circles  round 
and  about  the  point. 

"  Now,"  he  said,  "  that  you  and  Todd  and  I 
are  together  again  —  poor  Craven  was  so 
glad  to  get  a  glimpse  of  you  the  other  day  after 
all  these  months,  but  the  joy  was  of  a  kind  that 
did  n't  last  —  now,  as  I  say,  that  we  're  to 
gether  again  I  hope  from  the  bottom  of  my  soul 
that  nothing  disagreeable  is  going  to  hap 
pen  — " 

"  Ah,  cut  it  out !  "    exclaimed  one  of  the 


GUIDING    THE    ENEMY         171 

men,  and  went  directly  into  a  paroxysm  of 
sneezing. 

:<  Blake,"  said  Carrol,  and  he  thumped  the 
fellow  on  the  back,  "  see  what  comes  of  inter 
rupting!  " 

"  I  'm  sure,"  said  Todd  quietly,  "  that  Par- 
rish  is  n't  going  to  put  us  to  any  trouble." 

;<  Parrish,"  said  Carrol,  "  is  too  well  ac 
quainted  with  the  rudiments  of  the  English  lan 
guage  not  to  know  how  easily  a  man  may  be 
taught  to  speak  it.  How  about  it,  Jim?  " 

(<  I  think,  Carrol,"  said  I,  "  that  you  want 
me  to  show  you  where  the  treasure  is,  and  that 
you  are  threatening  to  hurt  me  if  I  won't.  Is 
that  it?" 

"Bright  boy!"  exclaimed  Carrol. 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  I'm  quite  ready  to  show 
you  where  we  got  the  gold  that  you  took  from 
us,  and  subsequently  lost.  If  there  's  any  more 
where  that  came  from,  why  I  suppose  you  can 
get  it  out  as  well  as  another." 

"  By  the  way,"  said  Todd,  "  was  that  mule 
gang  that  we  interrupted  yesterday  the  first 
from  the  mines  ?  " 

Carrol  reached  into  his  pocket,  and  pre 
sently  brought  out  the  famous  document  that 
he  had  stolen  from  me  in  San  Francisco. 

"  Now,  Jim,"  said  he,  "  go  over  this  and  pick 


172     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

off  the  items  that  are  already  aboard  the  Chin 
ese  ship  —  so  's  to  give  us  an  idea  of  what 's 
left  to  look  for." 

"  It 's  all  to  look  for,"  I  said,  "  so  far  as  I 
know.  What  you  lost  in  the  fiord  was  all  that 
we  had  lifted/'  And  I  made  to  return  the  paper. 

"  Keep  it,"  said  he,  and  with  a  kind  of  snort 
ing  laugh,  "  I  can  trust  you  with  it  —  now  that 
you  're  sober.  And  now  lead  off,  and  show  us 
where  the  stuff  is." 

I  thrust  the  paper  into  my  pocket,  turned 
without  a  word  and  walked  straight  for  the 
truncated  cone  in  the  midst  of  the  islet.  Where 
it  was  possible  Carrol  and  Todd  kept  abreast 
of  me,  and  the  rest  tailed  along  behind;  last 
of  all  came  Blake,  whose  cold  was  so  heavy  as 
to  suggest  incipient  pneumonia.  Carrol  carried 
one  of  the  rifles;  a  sour,  oldish  man,  whose 
name  I  afterward  learned  was  Kelsey,  should 
ered  the  other,  grumbling  with  its  weight, 
now  stopping  to  endure  a  paroxysm  of  cough 
ing,  and  now  swearing  in  a  hoarse,  whining 
voice  that  was  in  ludicrous  contrast  to  the 
shocking  and  filthy  words. 

Two  things  occupied  my  mind :  to  ascertain 
if  possible  and  mark  down  the  exact  place 
where  I  had  left  my  Winchester  and  my  car 
tridge  belt;  and  the  other  matter  was  the 


GUIDING    THE    ENEMY         173 

weather.  As  a  farmer  during  a  stubborn 
drought  I  prayed  fervently  for  rain.  A  little 
more  exposure,  I  thought,  and  some  of  these 
sweet  creatures  will  not  live  to  tell  about  it. 
But  the  gray  of  the  sky  was  growing  thinner 
constantly  and  brighter;  and  north,  towards 
Magellan,  the  snow  capped  mountains  glared 
here  and  there  with  sudden  and  shifting  visita 
tions  of  the  sun.  The  wind,  too,  had  a  brisk 
dry  quality,  and  in  my  joints  I  felt  that  it  was 
going  to  clear.  As  for  the  rifle,  now  I  thought 
I  had  the  place,  now  not.  But  recognising  of  a 
sudden  the  hollow  where  I  had  left  Lichee,  I 
was  able  almost  at  once  to  lay  my  eye  on  the 
top  of  the  split  rock,  between  whose  halves  I 
had  laid  the  thing;  and  you  may  be  sure  that 
I  looked  backward  from  time  to  time  to  mark 
it  indelibly  on  my  mind.  The  last  look  I  took 
was  from  the  shadow  of  the  cone,  and  I  saw 
the  extreme  tip  of  my  landmark,  no  bigger 
than  a  bead,  black,  with  one  sharp  point  of 
white,  and  shining  with  wet. 

If  my  chance  came  it  would  not  be  upon 
direction  that  I  should  go  wrong;  for  I  could 
now,  I  told  myself  joyfully,  go  as  straight  to 
a  weapon  as  that  weapon's  bullet  could  be  sent 
back  among  those  who  might  pursue. 

"Carrol,"   said   I  — and  he  looked  at  me 


174     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

shrewdly,  for  I  was  speaking  for  the  first  time 
that  day  in  a  natural  voice  —  "  I  've  been  won 
dering  how  you  happened  to  find  Lichee  — 
that's  the  boy  —  I  left  him  well  hidden;  and 
he  promised  to  stay  hidden." 

'  Then  he  broke  his  promise,  Jim,"  said  Car 
rol  ;  "  he  climbed  a  rock  to  have  a  look  around, 
and  Blake  saw  him,  and  the  bunch  of  us  ran 
him  down.  It  was  no  cinch;  the  little  devil 
ran  like  all  possessed ;  and  finally  hid  in  a  place 
not  big  enough  to  hold  a  rat ;  and  it  was  pretty 
dark  by  then;  and  he  pretty  damned  near  got 
off  .  .  .  How  much  farther  have  we  to  go?  " 

"  About  fifty  feet,"  said  I. 

'''  Boys,"  Carrol  turned  and  called,  "  hurry 
up!  We 're  there !" 

Even  Blake,  sick  as  he  was,  made  shift  to 
break  into  a  stumbling  run ;  and  almost  as  one 
man  we  arrived  on  the  rim  of  the  treasure  bowl, 
and  stood  looking  down. 


CHAPTER 
TWENTY- 
ONE 


A   RACE 


THE  excavations  that  we  had  made  to  get  out 
the  bar  of  gold  were  washed  half  full  of  sand; 
but  were  still  amazing  cavities  considering 
with  what  few  implements  and  in  how  short  a 
time  they  had  been  dug.  Carrol  stood  for  a 
moment  looking  down;  then  jumped,  landing 
with  incredible  lightness  for  a  man  of  his  bulk; 
dropped  his  rifle,  snatched  up  one  of  the  spades 
that  we  had  left  for  our  own  future  use,  and 
began  to  dig.  The  rim  of  the  bowl  was  fifteen 
feet,  perhaps,  higher  than  the  level  of  the  sand 
and  beech  bushes  within;  the  sides  were  steep 
and  smooth,  with  traces  of  horizontal  grooves 
as  if  the  hollow  had  been  ground  out  of  the  vir 
gin  rock;  it  was,  in  short,  an  easy  place  to 
enter,  and  by  no  means  so  easy  to  leave,  the 
smooth  slopes  offering  but  few  foot-holds  or 
hand-holds.  Blake,  who  was  the  next  to  jump, 
must  have  twisted  an  ankle  in  landing,  for  he 
fell  all  of  a  heap,  then  sat  up,  nursed  his  one 
foot  with  both  hands,  and  cursed  frightfully. 
Kelsey,  Todd  and  the  others  jumped  as  if  from 


176     YELLOW   MEN    AND    GOLD 

one  set  of  springs;  and  had  no  sooner  re 
covered  balance  than  they  fell  like  dogs  upon 
the  remaining  spade,  struggling  for  its  posses 
sion,  wrangling  and  cursing  each  other.  I  have 
never  seen  men  so  earnest  to  do  a  piece  of  dig 
ging;  and  remarked  to  myself  that  an  equal 
and  previous  zeal  for  hard  work  might  have 
kept  any  one  of  them  from  becoming  a  rascal. 
At  this  juncture  Carrol,  shouting  aloud, 
dropped  his  spade,  and  dug  some  object  free 
with  his  hands.  I  could  not  see  what  it  was. 
The  others,  including  Blake,  who  hopped  on 
his  sound  foot,  were  about  him  in  an  instant 
like  a  swarm  of  wasps.  Their  hoarse  and  thick 
voices  became  clear  with  the  tonic  of  wild  ex 
citement  ;  and  they  clapped  one  another  on  the 
back,  and  poured  forth  torrents  of  happy  abuse. 
Then  just  such  a  frenzy  of  digging  as  had  come 
over  the  Shantung  party  the  day  before  seized 
them;  Carrol  with  one  spade,  Kelsey  with  the 
other,  a  third,  whose  name,  if  I  had  caught  it 
correctly,  was  Brandreth,  with  the  pick,  and 
Blake,  Todd  and  the  other  with  their  hands. 
As  for  me,  I  stood  forgotten  upon  the  rim  of 
the  bowl.  So  far  as  the  diggers  were  concerned 
I  did  not  exist;  nor  did  I  (so  heartily  did  I 
participate  in  the  excitement  of  the  digging) 
for  a  minute  or  two  remember  myself.  I  came 


A    RACE  177 

to  with  a  start.  Here  was  a  golden  opportunity 
such  as  I  had  been  praying  for;  there  would 
never  come  a  better.  With  good  luck  I  might 
run  a  mile,  or  even  walk  one,  before  I  was 
missed;  with  the  worst  luck  in  the  world  I 
could  put  a  hundred  yards  between  me  and 
pursuit.  A  bullet  might  overtake  me,  but  the 
bullet  that  ended  me  would  also  end  their 
chance  of  securing  a  passage  on  the  Shantung; 
therefore  they  would  be  in  nc  hurry  to  shoot, 
unless  carried  away  by  unthinking  passion. 
I  gave  one  last  look  at  the  bent,  labouring 
backs  in  the  bowl,  took  one  cautious  step  back 
ward,  a  second,  a  third,  then  turned,  walked 
rapidly  for  twenty  feet,  and,  my  heart  thump 
ing  furiously,  broke  into  a  run.  The  relief  to 
my  pent-up  feelings  afforded  by  doing  some 
thing  with  all  my  might  and  main  was  in 
credible.  So  the  surgeon's  knife  relieves  the 
fever  and  agony  of  an  abscess.  My  heart  beat 
more  quietly;  I  breathed  more  easily;  and  I 
am  prepared  to  swear  that  I  even  saw  a  certain 
humour  in  the  situation.  But  it  was  a  short 
lived  glimpse,  A  furious  shout  to  stop  went 
through  me  like  a  bullet ;  then  a  flesh  and  blood 
bullet,  or  rather  one  of  lead  and  lubricator, 
sang  a  wicked  note  in  my  ear.  I  looked  back. 
Blake  was  hobbling  after  me,  a  rifle  smoking 


178     YELLOW   MEN    AND    GOLD 

in  his  hands;  the  head  and  shoulders  of 
Todd  were  emerging  from  the  bowl,  accom 
panied  by  a  humming  sound  of  shouts  and 
curses. 

I  leaped  into  a  hollow,  and  ran  on;  but  the 
farther  end  of  the  hollow  sloped  gently  back  to 
the  general  level,  and  I  must  expose  myself  to 
another  shot.  Yet  none  was  fired,  and  I  looked 
back  once  more  —  an  idiotic  manoeuvre  which 
cost  me  a  heavy  fall.  Still  I  gathered  that 
Todd,  having  snatched  Blake's  rifle  in  passing, 
was  attempting  to  run  me  down,  and  take  me 
alive.  And  even  in  the  brief  glimpse  that  I  had 
of  his  little  lithe  form  running  over  the  rocks 
like  a  mountain  goat,  I  saw  that  his  speed  to 
mine  was  as  that  of  a  race  horse  to  a  donkey. 
But  I  had  a  long  start ;  so  long  as  he  continued 
to  gain  he  would  not  shoot;  and  if  I  could 
reach  my  rifle  and  cartridges,  he  would  live 
just  long  enough  to  repent  having  chased  me. 
All  this  in  scrambling  up  from  my  fall,  and 
taking  once  more  to  my  heels.  And  I  ran  on, 
as  fast  as  I  could  work  my  legs,  and  as  straight 
for  that  greatly  needed  rifle  as  I  could  steer. 
The  hardest  part  was  to  keep  from  looking 
back;  but  the  last  folly  of  that  kind  had  taught 
me  a  lesson  that  was  not  to  be  forgotten.  T 
would  get  to  my  rifle  as  fast  as  I  could;  that 


A    RACE  179 

was  all  that  concerned  me.     If  I  got  to  it  in 
time  —  well  and  good;  if  not  —  ! 

Soon  I  began  to  hear  the  light  fall  of  Todd's 
feet;  and  presently  he  shouted  to  me  to  stop 
or  he  would  blow  my  head  off.  But  judging  his 
distance  by  the  sound  I  believed  that  there  was 
still  a  chance.  It  was  only  a  little  further  to 
the  split  rock;  and  Todd's  nearness  encouraged 
me  to  renewed  exertions;  to  that  labouring 
spurt  that  has  won  many  a  race  at  the  tape 
itself.  Yet  had  the  luck  been  against  me  I 
must  have  been  caught.  I  had  been  handi 
capped  by  one  tumble;  now  the  fates  evened 
matters  by  tripping  Todd.  I  heard  the  sharp 
clatter  that  his  rifle  made  upon  the  rock ;  heard 
the  man  grunt ;  and  twenty  steps  later  I  plunged 
into  a  hollow,  turned  the  corner  of  the  split 
rock  and  saw  my  rifle  lying  before  me  like  a 
streak  of  rust.  To  snatch  a  couple  of  car 
tridges  from  the  belt,  and  to  shove  the  nose 
of  one  into  the  breech  of  the  magazine  was  the 
work  of  an  instant.  But  there  the  work  came 
to  an  untimely  end,  for  the  calibre  of  the  car 
tridge  was  greater  than  that  of  the  rifle. 


CHAPTER    XXII 

A    RESCUE 

THE  day  before  when  we  started  back  with 
the  gold,  in  the  attendant  excitement,  con 
fusion  and  downpour  of  rain,  I  must  have 
picked  up  a  cartridge  belt  belonging  to  some 
one  else.  But  however  the  mistake  had  come 
about,  come  about  it  had;  and  I  must  pay  the 
forfeit.  Yet  as  Todd  came  suddenly  upon  me 
around  the  corner  of  the  rock,  I  had  the  sense 
to  point  the  empty  weapon  at  his  heart  and,  like 
a  gentleman  of  the  road,  to  call  upon  him  to 
hold  up  his  hands. 

The  effect  upon  Todd  of  finding  me  armed 
was  grotesque;  his  jaw  dropped;  his  eyes 
bulged;  and  he  went  very  white;  then  his 
knees  buckled,  and  he  sat  down  all  of  a  heap. 
To  a  man  of  very  little  courage  the  sight  of  the 
white  feather  displayed  by  an  adversary  is  the 
surest  and  strongest  impulse  to  daring.  And  a 
torrent  of  taunting  phrases  rushed  to  my  lips 
only  to  fall  for  \vant  of  the  breath  to  deliver 
them.  Indeed  I  \vas  so  winded  that  now  and 
then  I  saw  showers  of  stars  where  Todd's  face 


A    RESCUE  181 

ought  to  have  been;  and  the  muzzle  of  my 
rifle  jerked  and  circled  here  and  there.  A  full 
minute  must  have  passed  thus. 

Then  "  Stand  up,"  I  commanded  breath 
lessly. 

Todd  hesitated.  He  was  calmer  already, 
and  the  colour  was  flickering  back  into  his 
cheeks.  Then  slowly,  his  eye  never  leaving 
mine,  he  rose  to  his  feet. 

'f  Drop  that  gun,"  I  said.  But  his  answer 
to  this  was  as  unexpected  as  it  was  alarming. 
For  instead  of  dropping  the  rifle  he  raised  it 
suddenly  to  his  shoulder,  cocking  it  as  he  did 
so,  and  pointed  it  between  my  eyes. 

"  No,"  he  said,  "  you  drop  yours!  "  In  my 
turn  now  there  was  hesitation. 

"  Parrish,"  said  he,  "  your  rifle  is  n't  cocked. 
That  was  a  sad  oversight  on  your  part,  my 
boy.  So  put  it  down  now  and  come  along  .  .  . 
My  God  though,"  he  went  on,  "  you  had  me 
scared !  But  when  I  saw  that  you  'd  forgotten 
to  cock  the  thing — probably  didn't  know  how 
-  I  felt  better.  Whew !  Have  you  many  more 
surprises  up  your  sleeve?  First  you  burn  the 
Calliope;  then  you  spill  us  overboard;  then 
you  find  a  rifle  growing  on  a  bush !  .  .  .  What 
a  fellow  you  are !  .  .  .  It 's  a  shame  you 
didn't  come  with  us  in  the  first  place,  'stead 


182     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

of  giving  us  the  slip  in  'Frisco,  and  running 
off  with  a  lot  of  Chinamen.  Why,  if  you  'd 
stuck  to  us  we  'd  been  half  way  home  now, 
treasure  and  all." 

"  So  I  gave  you  the  slip,  did  I  ? "  said  I. 

'  You  bet!  "  said  he,  and  burst  out  laughing 
in  my  face. 

"  I  often  wonder,"  I  said,  "  why  you  men 
were  n't  willing  to  let  me  go  along  with  you, 
and  share  with  you ;  God  knows  there  's  enough 
profit  for  all,  if  the  invoice  is  anywhere  near 
correct.  Why  were  n't  you  willing?  " 

"  Oh,"  said  he  easily,  "  it  was  for  several 
reasons.  You  were  n't  our  kind ;  we  thought 
you  'd  be  so  much  dead  weight ;  and  —  I  don't 
know  what  all.  But  we  had  one  damned 
sensible  reason  —  we  were  afraid  of  —  of 
catching  your  trouble." 

"  My  trouble !  "  I  exclaimed. 

"  Yes  —  your  lungs,"  he  said.  "  We  did  n't 
like  the  notion  of  getting  mixed  up  with  your 
knife  and  fork,  for  instance,  or  drinking  out 
of  a  glass  that  you  had  used;  so  it  was  voted 
wisest  for  the  welfare  of  the  many  to  sail 
without  the  one." 

"  I  see,"  said  I,  and  with  great  indignation 
and  resentment.  "  And  I  never  had  a  trace 
of  consumption  in  my  life!" 


A    RESCUE  183 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  judging  from  recent 
events,  I  believe  you.  However  —  if  you  've 
got  your  wind,  I  've  got  mine.  Let 's  get  a  move 
on.  Pass  me  that  rifle,  butt  first.  We  need 
an  extra  rifle.  No.  You  can  carry  the  car- 
triges.  They  're  heavy,  I  know,  but  in  your 
hands  I  believe  quite  harmless." 

I  reached  out  my  hand  toward  the  rifle, 
and  at  that  instant  became  aware  of  a  figure 
that  appeared  like  a  ghost  from  heaven  knows 
where,  and  was  creeping  upon  Todd  from  be 
hind.  It  was  Jili,  and  my  sudden  look  of  ex 
citement  nearly  betrayed  him;  but  not  quite; 
for  Todd,  in  the  very  act  of  turning  alertly,  was 
caught  across  the  throat  by  a  skinny  yellow 
arm  that  sank  into  the  soft  of  it  like  a  rope;  his 
cry  was  strangled  ere  it  could  be  born;  and 
it  was  from  me  that  a  cry  of  horror  and  fear 
was  torn. 

In  the  shock  of  the  surprise,  Todd's  rifle 
had  fallen  from  his  hands;  and  now  struggle, 
writhe  and  twist  as  he  would,  his  fate  was 
upon  him.  The  strong  hand  of  Jili's  left  arm 
never  relaxed,  and  his  right  hand,  holding  a 
knife  curved  like  a  hook,  now  crept  around 
Todd's  body  and  although  Todd  seized  its 
wrist  with  both  hands,  he  could  not  arrest  its 
progress;  just  by  Todd's  left  hip  bone  the 


184     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

Chinaman,  with  a  sharp  cunning  jab,  hooked 
the  knife  into  the  living  flesh;  worked  it 
to  the  hilt;  and  then,  sawing,  jerking  and 
dragging,  began  to  rip  his  victim  open. 

Most  horrible  of  all  were  Todd's  efforts  to 
arrest  the  work  of  the  Chinaman's  inexorable 
hand;  for  his  jerking  and  tugging  against  that 
slim  steel-strong  yellow  wrist  had  a  look  of 
aiding  rather  than  hindering  the  ghastly  work 
upon  which  it  was  engaged.  No  sound  came 
from  Todd,  but  a  kind  of  whistling  of  the 
breath  in  his  nostrils,  and  the  sounds  of  his 
stubborn  and  reluctant  flesh  parting  with  rasp 
after  rasp  before  the  drag  and  jerk  of  the 
knife.  Once  the  point  of  the  knife  screaked 
shrilly  upon  a  bone. 

By  then  I  had  closed  with  that  awful  group 
of  murder,  and  was  doing  my  best  to  pry  off 
the  Chinaman's  hand.  As  well  have  grappled 
with  the  piston  rod  of  a  locomotive;  the  work 
went  on  to  its  appointed  end.  Then  Jili  re 
leased  his  hold,  and  Todd,  wide  open  from  left 
hip  bone  to  right  ribs,  sank  at  our  feet;  quiv 
ered,  choked,  moaned  and  died. 

Jili  was  breathless,  but  smiling. 

"  Jili  think  Chang  larf  lilly  now  all  same 
dead,"  said  he.  "  Jili  think  open  belly  good 
way;  not  too  dam  quick;  not  too  dam  slow. 


A    RESCUE  185 

Jili  think  time  go  back  schooner;  them  mans 
hurt  you?  By  and  by  Jili  catch  um  other  one; 
now  go  back  schooner,  and  grind  knife." 

He  examined  with  much  concern  a  deep  nick 
in  the  blade,  thrust  the  bloody  thing  into  its 
sheath,  caught  up  the  rifles;  and  then,  one 
arm  about  my  waist  for  I  was  near  fainting, 
walked  me  slowly  through  hollows  and  gullies 
to  the  head  of  the  fissure;  stopping  now  and 
then  to  poke  his  head  above  the  general  level 
and  make  sure  that  we  were  not  pursued;  but 
no  one  actually  seemed  to  have  followed  us, 
although  Carrol  could  be  seen  half  way  up  the 
side  of  the  truncated  cone,  trying  apparently 
to  find  out  what  had  become  of  Todd  and  me. 

By  the  time  we  reached  the  boat  I  had  re 
covered  from  my  f aintness ;  but  it  was  with  the 
utmost  repugnance  only  that  I  could  bring  my 
self  to  look  at  Jili;  though  his  deed  had  saved 
me,  perhaps,  from  an  ultimate  fate  more  cruel 
than  that  which  had  been  visited  upon  the 
wretched  Todd.  And  now  with  the  perspective 
of  time,  that  dreadful  act  of  vivisection,  awful 
as  it  was  to  witness,  seems  to  have  been  about 
the  compromise  between  sudden  death  and  tor 
ture  that  such  men  as  Todd  deserve.  Surely 
it  was  in  no  way  so  great  a  crime  as  the  unpro 
voked  murder  of  Chang  and  Hoang  and  the 


i86     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

others  had  been.  Then,  too.  it  seems  that  not 
merely  the  cruel  passion  of  revenge  impelled 
Jili  to  the  atrocity.  Rather,  and  Bessie  ex 
plained  it  so  to  me,  he  wished  by  one  terrible 
example  to  fill  the  hearts  of  our  enemies  with 
consternation  and  cold  fear.  To  have  found 
Todd  conventionally  dead  would  have  served 
only  to  inflame  them  further  against  us;  but 
to  find  him  as  he  was,  must,  and  I  agreed  with 
Bessie,  serve  them  as  an  awful  warning. 

We  had  now  but  five  men  and  one  rifle  to 
deal  with;  five  men  without  shelter;  with  no 
food  except  such  sea-birds  (and  these  were 
plentiful  enough)  as  they  could  kill;  and  no 
means  of  kindling  a  fire,  for  there  was  no  fuel 
upon  the  island.  Jili  was  for  going  ashore 
and  hunting  them  down  like  so  many  sheep, 
and  potting  them  one  by  one  until  we  had  ac 
counted  for  the  lot.  But  the  rest  of  us  would 
not  hear  of  it;  the  enemy  had  still  one  rifle, 
and  that  was  just  one  too  many.  Better  go 
for  a  short  cruise,  or  merely  stay  where  we 
were,  and  let  the  cold  and  the  rain  hunt  down 
the  men  upon  the  island,  and  dispose  of  them 
one  by  one. 


CHAPTER 
TWENTY- 
THREE 


THE 

WHITE  FLAG 
AGAIN 


IN  the  hold  of  the  Shantung,  each  in  its  red 
wood  packing  case,  were  twelve  coffins  of 
American  manufacture,  already  engraved  with 
the  names  of  those  who  were  some  time  or  other 
expected  to  occupy  them.  Your  Chinaman 
cannot  bear  the  thought  of  being  buried  at  sea 
or,  permanently,  in  a  foreign  land;  and,  in 
deed,  to  be  sure  of  resting  one  day  in  Chinese 
soil  he  would  cheerfully  curtail  the  full  measure 
of  his  days.  These  coffins  for  which  there  were 
now  occupants  were  hoisted  to  the  deck,  and 
the  afternoon  was  passed  in  soldering  their 
leaden  linings  hermetically  over  our  dead, 
screwing  down  the  lids,  and  slipping  the  cof 
fins  once  more  into  the  packing  cases.  The 
Shantung's  cabin  was  then  once  more  made  to 
serve  as  a  receiving  vault,  and  the  coffins 
ranged  lengthwise  along  the  wall;  the  centre 
of  the  cabin  being  kept  open  as  usual  for  meals, 
games  of  cards,  navigation  and  all  its  thousand 
and  one  other  uses.  While  we  were  carrying 


1 88     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

Chang's  coffin  into  the  cabin  two  shots  were 
fired  at  us  from  the  island;  one  splintered  di 
agonally  into  the  deck,  and  one  flew  wide.  So, 
having  stored  the  bodies,  we  got  up  the  Shan- 
tuny's  anchor  and  moved  her,  perhaps  a  quar 
ter  of  a  mile,  or  as  far  as  the  width  of  the  fiord 
would  permit,  further  out  from  the  landing; 
and  also  erected  a  flimsy  screen  of  canvas  that 
could  be  shifted  from  side  to  side,  according 
to  how  the  ship  lay  on  the  rising  or  falling  tide, 
and  behind  which  \ve  could  move  about  unseen. 
The  screen,  of  course,  offered  no  obstacle  to  a 
bullet;  but  we  agreed  that  men  with  a  limited 
supply  of  ammunition  would  not  waste  it- on  a 
wall  of  canvas,  in  the  wild  hope  of  hitting  some 
one  who  might  be  at  a  particular  point  behind 
it.  Furthermore  the  added  distance  between 
us  and  the  shore  precluded  the  idea  of  any  des 
perate  man  swimming  off  to  us  in  the  night. 
Only  Jerry  Top,  a  native  of  the  region,  and 
who  could  bask  naked  in  the  midst  of  a  drizzle 
with  the  mercury  at  45°,  for  all  the  world  like 
a  lizard  in  the  sun,  could  have  accomplished 
so  tremendous  a  feat  of  natation.  Had  it  not 
been  for  the  desperate  men  ashore,  of  whom 
he  stood  in  mortal  terror,  he  wrould,  I  think, 
have  tried  it  at  this  time.  For  the  man's  likes 
and  dislikes  had  already  turned  topsy  turvy. 


THE    WHITE   FLAG   AGAIN     189 

He  was  now  as  sick  of  ship  life  as  formerly  he 
had  been  of  that  on  shore.  And  he  babbled 
continually  and  very  lovingly  of  terra  firma, 
of  moist  hollows  among  the  wet  rocks,  of  raw 
sea-gulls,  of  occasional  feasts  upon  the  putrid 
blubber  of  stranded  whale.  He  told  us  that 
he  had  a  ton  or  more  of  whale  buried  on  the 
island;  and  that  if  he  could  not  come  at  it  soon 
he  feared  that  it  would  pass  its  prime.  The 
clothes,  too,  that  he  was  made  to  wear  aboard 
ship  fretted  him  cruelly.  He  was  as  sorry 
to.  remain  aboard  as  he  had  been  rejoiced  to 
come. 

Early  the  next  morning  Carrol  presented 
himself  on  the  landing,  bearing  a  white  flag; 
and  after  a  somewhat  heated  discussion  be 
tween  Jili  and  Ah  Fing,  was  brought  off  in  the 
boat.  He  carried  himself  with  commendable 
bravado;  but  it  was  evident  that  hunger 
pricked  him,  and  that  he  was  really  sick  with 
the  cold  in  his  head. 

"  Jim,"  said  he  to  me,  "  that  was  an  awful 
thing  you  did  to  Todd." 

"  Don't  give  me  the  credit  of  it,"  said  I, 
"though  I  dare  say  it  was  no  more  than  he 
deserved." 

"  So  it  was  n't  you,"  he  said,  "  well,  I  'm 
glad ;  it  was  n't  nice  to  think  that  a  white  man 


190     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

had  done  it.  I  suppose  you  '11  be  surprised  to 
hear  that  I  've  come  on  an  errand  of  mercy 
.  .  .  Ah!  Good  morning,  Lichee  .  .  .  ' 

"  Morning,"  said  Lichee,  and  grinned. 

:<  It 's  about  Blake,"  said  Carrol,  and  he 
seated  himself  heavily  on  the  deck  and  leaned 
against  the  mainmast.  "  Excuse  me  —  but," 
and  he  smiled  ruefully,  "  I  've  been  up  all  night 
with  him;  but  we  can't  do  anything  for  him. 
I  Ve  come  to  ask  you  in  common  charity  to 
take  him  aboard.  You  've  got  medicines, 
have  n't  you,  and  whiskey  ?  He  'd  have  a 
chance  here." 

"  What  ails  the  man,"  said  Bessie,  "  that 
should  not  ail  him?  " 

"  I  suppose  it 's  pneumonia,"  said  Carrol. 
"  It  began  with  a  heavy  cold,  and  now  he  's 
delirious,  and  burning  up  with  fever." 

Bessie  pointed  to  the  closed  door  of  the  cabin. 

"  In  there,  Mister  Carrol,"  she  said,  "  are 
five  dead  men  who  were  kinder  to  me  than 
brothers.  Now  you  ask  me  to  take  one  of  the 
men  that  murdered  them  aboard  the  ship,  and 
nurse  him  back  to  health  and  strength  ?  I  '11  tell 
you  what  we  '11  do  for  you,  Mister  Carrol. 
We  '11  take  him  aboard  and  we  '11  nurse  him. 
If  he  dies  —  well  and  good;  if  he  does  n't  die 
—  if  he  recovers  —  well  then,  just  as  soon  as 


THE    WHITE    FLAG   AGAIN     191 

he  's  well  enough  and  strong  enough  to  under 
stand  what's  happening,  we'll  hang  him  as 
high  as  he  can  be  hoisted  on  the  end  of  a 
rope.  And  you  can  put  that  in  your  pipe  and 
smoke  it ! " 

"  Jim,"  said  Carrol,  "  have  you  no  influence 
among  these  heathen  ?  " 

"  Not  enough,"  said  I,  "  to  turn  their  human 
nature  upside  down,  any  more  than  my  own. 
Those  dead  men  in  there  were  like  brothers  to 
me,  Carrol.  And  I  can  find  it  in  my  heart 
to  think  of  this  Blake's  plight  with  positive 
satisfaction,  God  forgive  me." 

"  It 's  a  hard  world,"  said  Carrol,  "  and 
Blake's  blood  is  on  your  head,  Jim,  not  mine." 

"  I  guess  there  's  damned  little  room  left  on 
your  head  for  everybody  else's  blood,  Mister 
Carrol,"  said  Bessie  tartly,  "  and  now  if  you  've 
said  your  say,  I  guess  you  'd  better  be  moving." 

He  rose  to  his  feet,  staggering  a  little,  but 
with  a  show  of  temper. 

"All  right!"  he  said,  "all  right!  But 
answer  me  this  —  where  do  you  all  come  in? 
Here  you  are,  to  be  sure,  and  very  snug  to  be 
sure  —  but  the  treasure  's  with  us ;  and  you  're 
no  nearer  to  it  than  you  were  before  you  ever 
heard  of  it.  So  if  at  any  time  you  have  any 
reasonable  overtures  just  let  us  know." 


192     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

"  Carrol,"  said  I,  "  we  have  discussed  that 
subject  already  among  ourselves  under  two 
heads.  It  \vas  first  proposed  to  go  ashore  and 
hunt  you  people  down  like  so  many  quail,  from 
rock  to  rock,  from  gully  to  gully,  from  your 
first  hiding  place  to  your  last,  and  there  ex 
terminate  you.  But  the  vote  went  against 
that  plan.  And  the  present  idea  is  to  leave 
you  severely  alone." 

Carrol  laughed  sneeringly. 

"  You  'd  better !  "  said  he. 

'  To  leave  you  severely  alone,"  I  went  on, 
"  until  one  by  one  you  have  gone  where  Blake 
is  going,  and  by  the  same  road.  How  long  can 
you  people  hold  on  to  your  miserable  lives  — 
on  that  barren  rock?  Will  the  green  beech 
stems  burn,  even  supposing  that  there  is  a  dry 
match  left  among  you?  How  long  can  you 
eat  raw  gull?  If  the  rain  holds  off  you  will 
die  of  thirst;  and  if  the  rain  falls  —  and  in 
deed  I  felt  a  drop  not  a  minute  ago  —  you  are 
as  well  able  to  stand  showers  of  corrosive 
sublimate." 

He  compressed  his  lips  tightly,  but  still 
sneering. 

"  Jim,"  said  he,  "  I  don't  know  a  bolder 
talker  than  yourself  when  you  Ve  got  your 
friends  to  back  you.  But  yesterday  when  you 


THE   WHITE   FLAG   AGAIN     193 

were  visiting  us,  you  kept  a  civiler  and  less 
bloodthirsty  tongue  in  your  head !  " 

I  crimsoned  to  my  eyes  with  shame;  for 
what  the  man  said  was  perfectly  true. 

"  But  for  me,"  said  he,  "  it 's  different.  And 
among  friends  or  enemies  you  '11  find  me  the 
same.  When  I  tell  you  to  your  faces  "  —  his 
face  becomes  gradually  frenzied  with  rage  — 
"  that  I  am  going  to  cut  the  heart  out  of  every 
mother's  son  of  you,  I  mean  it.  And  as 
for  the  mother's  daughters  among  you  —  ask 
that  Spanish  prostitute  there  what  I  did  to 
her  ...  " 

"  Mister  Carrol,"  said  Bessie  quietly, 
"  among  Chinamen  a  white  flag  protects  its 
bearer  as  surely  as  an  army.  But  the  amount 
of  honour  that  an  outcast  woman  can  claim  is 
so  small  and  valueless  to  her,  that  if  you  don't 
get  out  of  this  ship  in  about  three  shakes  of  a 
lamb's  tail  —  I'll  fix  you.  And  I'll  fix  you 
good  ..." 

Her  temper  had  risen,  and  she  glared  into 
the  man's  face,  and  walked  slowly  towards  him, 
her  arms  akimbo,  and  her  chin  thrust  sharply 
forward  and  up.  Carrol  clenched  his  right 
hand.  He  was  brave,  and  no  mistake.  For  he 
must  have  known  that  he  had  but  to  strike 
the  woman  to  be  literally  torn  to  pieces  the 


194     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

next  instant  —  and  I  think  he  meant  to  strike 
her.  Jili's  crooked  knife  was  already  flashing 
in  his  hand,  clean  once  more  and  sharp.  I 
sprang  between  Bessie  and  Carrol. 

"  Carrol,"  said  I,  "  certain  things  have  been 
said  to  you  that  you  may  as  well  put  in  your 
pipe  and  smoke.  My  God,  man,  think  of 
Todd!" 

He  must  have  done  so,  for  his  face  changed 
on  the  instant  from  crimson  to  ash.  And, 

"  I  guess  you  're  right,  Jim,"  he  said  mildly. 

A  moment  more  and  he  had  gone  over  the 
side,  and  was  being  ferried  ashore. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

TERMS 

WELL,  as  the  saying  is,  we  sat  down  to  wait, 
and  felt  pretty  sure  of  our  affair,  Before 
Carrol  had  stepped  from  the  boat  to  the  landing 
the  rain  was  once  more  descending  in  torrents. 
You  may  lay  it  against  me  that  I  was  not  un 
duly  moved  with  the  thought  of  human  beings 
succumbing  inevitably  to  exposure,  and  so  near 
at  hand.  But  I  was  not.  The  island  and  its 
transient  inhabitants  seemed  very  far  off. 
Do  you,  for  instance,  when  you  read  of  a  ter 
rible  famine  in  distant  India  really  take  the 
matter  to  heart?  I  think  not;  for  it  is  only  a 
rare,  and  a  very  morbid,  imagination  that  can 
picture  sufferings  beyond  the  seas  with  suffi 
cient  vividness  to  be  troubled  by  them.  Can 
you  not  pass  a  city  hospital  with  laughter  and 
jest?  Are  you  in  the  least  affected,  though 
you  fling  them  a  thought,  perhaps,  by  the  suf 
ferings  that  are  going  on  within?  You  do 
not  hear  the  screams,  nor  smell  the  ether,  nor 
feel  the  passing  of  souls.  If  all  the  world's 
death-beds  and  tortures  came  near  enough, 


196     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

you  yourself  would  die  of  pain.  But  a  brick 
wall,  the  roof  of  a  house,  the  width  of  a  street, 
keep  you  in  blissful  ignorance.  How  much 
more,  then,  the  width  of  a  fiord,  and  the  rocky 
heights  of  an  island.  It  was  harder  to  sit  down 
among  our  own  dead  in  the  cabin,  to  eat  a  meal, 
than  to  think  of  Blake  in  his  last  throes.  And 
after  a  meal  or  two  that  feeling  of  wretched 
discomfort  passed,  and  I  grew  used  to  lean 
ing  against  Chang's  coffin  and  watching  a  deal 
of  fan-tan  eat  up  my  resources.  Have  I  said 
that  I  was  made  to  gamble  furiously  aboard  the 
Shantung?  Alas  it  is  so!  And  having  not 
a  penny  of  my  own  in  the  world  I  was  a  con 
stant  recipient  of  forced  loans.  Our  stakes, 
it  is  true,  were  wondrous  small;  but  the  ex 
citement  was  as  great  as  among  men  playing 
for  thousands.  At  checkers  and  backgammon 
I  could  hold  my  own;  and  I  was  beginning  to 
see  the  inner  workings  of  fan-tan ;  chess,  how 
ever,  was  not  a  contest  but  a  series  of  presents 
from  me  to  the  adversary;  though  I  once 
pushed  Lichee  very  close  for  a  rubber.  Bessie 
played  cards  with  astonishing  good  luck,  and 
very  little  skill;  Carmen  played  well  and  un 
luckily;  but  the  only  heavy  winners  among  us 
were  poor  Chang,  who  was  dead,  and  Lichee. 
The  child  played  with  real  genius;  and  it  was 


TERMS  197 

a  great  feather  in  the  cap  of  any  one  who  could 
worst  him.  He  knew  every  card  in  the  pack; 
at  whist  he  seemed  to  know  by  intuition,  after 
a  lead  or  two,  exactly  what  hands  were  held 
by  the  various  players.  The  meanings  and 
values  of  cards  and  their  combinations  were 
far  easier  to  him  than  his  own  baby  talk,  Eng 
lish  or  Chinese.  Neither  did  he  win  with  the 
unnecessary  vivacity,  or  lose  with  the  dismal- 
ness  of  your  amateur.  Give  the  child  a  pack  of 
cards  and  he  was  a  Jack  Hamlin.  Sometimes 
for  sport,  and  without  stakes,  he  would  play  me 
a  game  of  piquet,  announcing  beforehand  that 
he  intended  to  cheat;  but,  watch  as  I  might,  I 
could  never  catch  him  at  it ;  and  he  would  put 
back  his  round  little  face  and  half  close  his 
black  sloe  eyes,  and  roar  at  my  ignorance  and 
stupidity. 

For  two  days  and  nights  it  rained  and  sleeted, 
and  the  wind  howled.  And  we  passed  the  time 
with  games  and  cards  and  conversation.  We 
even  had  a  great  candy  pull,  got  up  by  Carmen 
for  Lichee's  benefit ;  and  made  a  great  mess  in 
the  galley  boiling  down  molasses  and  pulling  it 
till  it  was  white,  sprinkling  our  hands  with  flour 
so  that  the  sticky  mass  should  not  adhere.  And 
all  this  merry  making  was  to  pass  the  time  that 
our  enemies  should  take  in  dying. 


198     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

Well,  now  that  it 's  all  over,  that  is,  perhaps, 
a  horrible  thought.  But  even  if  we  had  sat  in 
solemn  rows  twiddling  our  thumbs,  it  would 
not  have  helped  in  any  way.  And  as  a  matter 
of  fact  while  we  were  trying  to  amuse  time 
away  none  of  our  enemies  died  but  Blake ;  and 
his  death  had  come  upon  him  while  Carrol  was 
being  ferried  to  the  shore. 

The  morning  of  the  third  day  broke  over 
cast  but  rainless.  During  the  night  Jerry  Top 
had  left  us,  being  sick  to  death  of  schooner  life. 
But  whether  he  swam  off  to  the  island,  or  to 
the  mainland,  we  never  knew.  Probably  it  was 
to  the  latter,  since  it  was  nearer,  and  not  popu 
lated  by  people  likely  to  do  him  harm.  He  left 
the  clothes  with  which  we  had  supplied  him 
lying  on  the  deck,  and  departed  the  Shan 
tung  almost  as  naked  as  he  had  come  to  her. 
But  not  quite.  For  we  found  that  he  had 
taken  one  hair  brush  belonging  to  Bessie, 
Lichee's  clasp  knife,  and  a  jar  of  strawberry 
jam.  For  my  part  I  wish  him  well  and  hope 
that  whenever  he  tires  of  shore  life  he  will  spy 
a  vessel  in  the  offing,  and  vice-versa. 

About  nine  o'clock  of  the  third  day  Carrol, 
once  more  waving  the  white  flag,  was  seen  on 
the  landing,  and  on  the  brink  of  the  cliffs  far 
above  him  we  perceived  the  rest  of  the  gang, 


TERMS  199 

Kelsey,  Brandreth  and  another  whose  name 
turned  out  to  be  Swigot.  These  three  sat  upon 
the  edge  of  the  cliff,  at  a  point  where  it  was 
more  than  perpendicular,  and  (their  legs  hang 
ing  into  space)  resembled  three  small  boys  on  a 
very  high  wall.  And  it  seemed  to  me  that  in 
thus  disregarding  the  perilous  altitude  they 
showed  something  of  the  desperation  to  which 
they  must  have  been  brought  by  the  cold  and 
the  rain.  But  we  kept  Carrol  a  long  time  wait 
ing,  and  decided  at  last  to  bring  him  off  to  the 
schooner  only  because  \ve  had  been  pent  up  so 
long  that  we  were  eager  for  diversion  even 
of  a  disagreeable  nature.  Furthermore  we 
thought  that  by  a  close  look  at  Carrol,  we 
could  estimate  how  long  the  business  of  wait 
ing  might  be  expected  to  endure. 

But  it  was  evident  at  first  glance  that  Car 
rol's  deposits  of  adipose  were  serving  him  in 
good  stead ;  they  formed  a  kind  of  granary  of 
reserved  strength  and  nutrition  upon  which  he 
could  draw.  White  he  was  —  very;  thinner; 
and  had  a  grave,  drawn  look;  but  his  eye 
sparkled  with  intelligence  and  determination; 
and  whatever  his  inmost  estimate  of  the  situa 
tion,  he  had  neither  the  expression  nor  the 
bearing  of  a  beaten  man.  He  chose  to  present 
himself  as  the  herald  of  the  stronger  party, 


200     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

as  indeed,  he  was  in  one  way ;  for  the  treasure, 
now  as  always  the  real  sinews  of  war,  remained 
for  the  present  on  his  side  of  the  quarrel;  and 
he  chose  to  be  sharp  with  us'  for  having  kept 
him  waiting. 

"  If  you  had  n't  sent  for  me  when  you  did," 
said  he  arrogantly,  "  I  would  have  refused  to 
treat  with  you  at  all." 

"Treat  with  us?"  said  Bessie. 

"And  why  not?"  said  he.  "I  am  at  this 
moment  more  times  a  millionaire  in  terms  of 
bullion  than  any  man  in  the  world.  I  am  in  a 
position  to  treat  with  an  emperor,  let  alone 
with  a  scrubby  ship's  company  whose  only 
assets  are  a  couple  of  stoves  and  a  cock- 
roachy  schooner.  Now  then,  I  am  prepared 
to  offer  you  a  handsome  sum  to  land  me  and 
my  friends  safely  in  Rio,  and  in  addition  a 
handsome  bonus  for  handling  the  treasure.  I 
am  authorised  to  offer  virgin  gold  to  the  amount 
of  fifty  thousand  dollars." 

"  And  suppose,"  said  I,  "  that  we  refuse  this 
munificent  offer;  row  quickly  ashore  and  take 
possession  of  this  treasure  which  by  every 
ethical  right  belongs  to  us,  and  sail  away,  leav 
ing  you  and  your  friends  to  think  the  matter 
over?" 

"  Jim,"  said  he,   "  if  you  'd  acted  on  that 


TERMS  201 

idea  a  few  days  ago,  instead  of  sitting  down 
to  starve  us  out,  I  won't  deny  that  you  could 
have  worked  it;  since  you  outnumber  us  two 
to  one,  and  have  plenty  of  weapons.  But  you 
preferred  apparently  not  to  face  any  active 
or  dangerous  issue,  and  now,  few  and  weak 
though  we  are,  the  game 's  in  our  hands. 
Don't  think  we  spent  the  opportunity  you  gave 
us  twiddling  our  thumbs.  No  sir !  We  worked 
like  mules,  and  bit  by  bit  we  dug  out  every 
sliver  of  the  treasure,  and  most  of  the  gems,  I 
guess,  and  we  transplanted  'em,  digging  by 
day  and  carrying  by  night,  until  the  whole 
mass  of  it  lies  on  the  cliff  yonder,  where  the 
boys  are  sitting  and  dangling  their  legs." 

"  Thank  you  kindly,"  said  I,  "  for  your 
trouble.  And  it  seems  to  me  you  've  only 
saved  us  much  time  and  labour." 

But  he  shook  his  head  gently  and  smiled 
pityingly  in  my  face. 

"  The  advantages  of  our  position,"  he  said 
softly,  "  would  be  obvious  to  any  one  but  a 
nincompoop." 

"  Doubtless,"  I  said,  "  but  you  will  certainly 
have  to  explain  them  to  me." 

"  Why,  Jim,"  said  he,  "  we  four  survivors 
of  the  late  Calliope  are  in  desperate  straits,  I 
admit  that:  we  're  half  starved;  we  're  chilled 


202     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

to  the  bone ;  but  though  we  Ve  kept  going  on 
nerve  and  excitement  we  can't  keep  it  up  for 
ever,  nor  indeed  for  very  long.  Perhaps  you 
think  \ve  're  good  tempered  about  the  way 
things  have  gone  against  us  from  the  start? 
Perhaps  you  think  we  're  grinning  and  bearing 
our  misfortunes  like  the  good  Christians  that 
we  —  are  n't  ?  No,  we  're  feeling  pretty  savage 
and  resentful,  if  you  want  the  truth.  If  we  Ve 
got  to  perish  miserably  on  that  damned  rock, 
well  and  good ;  but  our  last  death  rattle  is  n't 
going  to  enrich  anybody;  because  we  intend,  if 
you  people  won't  listen  to  reason,  to  throw  every 
grain  of  the  treasure  from  the  cliff  into  the 
fiord.  And  the  waters  there,  as  I  know  that 
have  sounded  them,  are  a  hundred  fathoms 
deep  .  .  .  Now  maybe  you  've  got  a  healthier 
view  of  the  situation." 

I  must  admit  that  the  new  turn  in  the  affair 
threw  us  into  a  very  considerable  consterna 
tion.  The  Chinamen  burst  into  full  council, 
all  talking  at  once  and  at  the  top  of  their 
lungs;  and  Bessie,  too,  mingled  with  them, 
haranguing,  almost  shouting,  and  stamping 
her  feet. 

"  What  are  they  saying,  Jim,"  asked  Carrol. 

"  I  wish  I  knew,"  said  I.  "  But  whatever  it 
is  they  '11  come  to  a  decision  pretty  quick." 


TERMS  203 

The  hubbub  ceased  as  suddenly  as  it  had 
begun,  and  Bessie  came  forward  as  spokesman. 

''  We  want  to  know,  Mister  Carrol/'  said 
she,  "  about  how  much  you  think  the  stuff 
foots  up  to?  " 

'  We  've  no  scales  on  the  island,"  said  he, 
"  so  it 's  impossible  to  make  any  kind  of  an 
estimate;  especially  of  the  gems.  But  there 's 
enough  to  make  me  and  my  friends  feel  pretty 
wealthy." 

"Well,"  said  Bessie,  "our  feeling  is  this: 
We  feel  that  your  offer  of  fifty  thousand  dol 
lars  is  mighty  generous;  and  we  don't  want 
to  be  outdone.  So  we  make  you  just  the  same 
offer;  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  be  divided 
among  the  four  of  you,  and  a  safe  passage  to 
Rio." 

"What!"  exclaimed  Carrol,  "why  the 
stuff  's  worth  millions  and  millions,  and  you 
offer  us  fifty  thousand  dollars'  worth  —  when 
the  whole  of  it 's  ours  —  ours!  That  for  your 
offer ! "  he  cried,  and  he  spat  upon  the  deck. 

"  Mister  Carrol,"  said  Bessie,  "  we  're  as 
able  to  pay  for  our  fancies  as  you  are.  You 
may  take  this  offer  or  leave  it.  And  you  Ve 
got  five  minutes  to  make  up  your  mind.  Take 
it,  and  we  '11  keep  our  end  of  the  contract  faith 
fully  ;  leave  it,  and  by  the  living  God,  five  min- 


204     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

utes  from  now  the  boys  go  ashore  and  hunt 
down  those  friends  of  yours  from  their  perch. 
If  they  chuck  the  treasure  overboard,  well  and 
good,  they  've  got  sand.  But  I  think  Mister 
Carrol  they  '11  run  like  whipped  sheep !  Jili  — 
Ho  Lee  —  get  your  guns  out,  boys,  and  get  a 
bead  on  those  black  birds  on  the  cliff  yonder !  " 

The  Chinamen  sprang  to  the  work,  and 
poking  their  rifles  here  arid  there  through 
the  canvas  screen  that  had  been  rigged  to  keep 
our  actions  hidden,  prepared  to  make  it  hot 
for  the  men  on  the  cliff,  who,  in  utter  igno 
rance  of  what  was  brewing,  continued  to  kick 
their  legs  idly  in  space. 

Carrol  sprang  to  his  feet  livid. 

"  Is  this  how  you  respect  a  flag  of  truce," 
he  cried.  "  My  God  strike  me  dead !  There  's 
no  decency  left  among  men." 

"  Mister  Carrol,"  cried  Bessie,  "  the  flag 
affects  only  you.  Nobody 's  raising  a  hand 
against  you!  As  for  those  skunks  up  yonder 
there  's  nothing  to  protect  them  —  except  the 
long  range  —  four  —  five  —  six  hundred  yards 
/  call  it — and  that  won't  cover  them  long." 

"  It 's  murder !  "  Carrol  screamed  this  at 
the  top  of  his  voice,  hoping,  I  think,  to  warn 
his  friends;  but  if  his  cry  did  reach  them  it 
passed  unheeded. 


TERMS  205 

"  Try  that  again,"  said  Bessie,  "  and  we  '11 
call  the  truce  off  —  and  you'll  last  about  five 
seconds  .  .  .  now  then,  my  buck,  take  our 
proposition  or  leave  it." 

''  But  I  can't,"  said  Carrol  resolutely,  "  with 
out  consulting  with  my  friends,  I  'm  only  one 
vote  among  four." 

"  Oh  well,"  said  Bessie,  "  if  that 's  all  the 
influence  you  Ve  got  up  yonder,  and  you  the 
boss,  the  fount  of  wisdom,  I  guess  we  better 
open  fire  and  have  done  with  the  business." 
She  turned  to  the  Chinamen. 

"Jili,"  she  said- 

"  Hold  on !  "  said  Carrol.  "  You  guarantee 
us  fifty  thousand  and  a  safe  passage  to  Rio?  " 

"  Fifty  thousand,"  said  Bessie.  "  and  a  safe 
passage  —  unless  you  try  any  dirty  work!" 

Carrol's  face  was  a  study.  Resolute  villain, 
I  think  he  was  capable  of  flinging  the  offer  in 
our  faces  and  dying  a  martyr  to  his  own  stub 
bornness.  But  it  must  be  that  at  this  moment 
the  inklings  of  some  future  desperate  plan 
came  to  him ;  for  suddenly,  and  with  consider 
able  meekness,  "  I  accept,"  said  he,  "  for  myself 
and  for  my  friends." 

"Well  and  good!"  said  Bessie. 

"And  now,"  said  he,  "put  me  ashore,  and 
I  '11  tell  the  boys." 


206     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

For  answer  Bessie  fetched  the  megaphone 
and  thrust  it  into  his  hands. 

[<  From  the  moment  you  accepted  the  propo 
sition,"  said  she,  "  we  're  responsible  for  your 
safe  passage  to  Rio,  and  we  ?re  not  going  to  let 
you  run  the  risk  of  going  ashore.  Now  then, 
'phone  those  men  that  you  've  made  a  satisfac 
tory  arrangement  —  you  need  n't  state  the  terms 

—  or  you  might  get  yourself  permaturely  dis 
liked.    Tell  them  to  come  at  once  to  the  land 
ing,  and  we  '11  send  for  them.     And  by  the 
way,  they  've  got  a  rifle.     Tell  them  to  throw 
that  into  the  fiord  —  so  that  I  can  see  them 
do  it." 

Carrol  rolled  a  wicked  and  baleful  eye;  but 
he  put  the  megaphone  presently  to  his  mouth, 
and  gave  his  comrades  their  directions.  For  a 
few  moments  they  appeared  to  consult;  then 

—  Kelsey,  it  was,  rose  to  his  feet,  raised  the 
rifle  high  above  his  head,  held  it  thus  in  full 
view  for  a  second  or  two,  and  flung  it  from 
him.     It  seemed  a  long  time  falling,  turned 
over  slowly,  and  entered  the  water  without  a 
sound  or  splash  that  could  be  detected  from  the 
schooner.    The  three  men  then  turned  and  dis 
appeared,  making  for  the  head  of  the  fissure 
that  conducted  to  the  landing. 

"  Well/'  said  Carrol,  shrugging  his  broad, 


TERMS  207 

fat  shoulders,  "  that 's  over.  Now  for  God's 
sake  give  me  something  to  eat  and  a  drink,  and 
let  me  dry  out  at  the  stove." 

"  Jili,"  said  Bessie,  "  look  after  Mr.  Carrol." 

The  way  in  which  Jili  did  this  must  have  as 
tonished  that  desperate  adventurer.  Jili  drove 
into  the  man's  brawny  legs  and  jerked  them 
from  under  him,  and  pitched  him  heavily  upon 
the  deck.  Then,  falling  upon  him  with  ropes, 
Ah  Fing  and  Ho  Lee  had  in  a  moment  so 
bound  him  that  he  could  move  no  more  than 
his  fingers  and  toes. 

"  Look  in  his  hip  pocket,"  said  Bessie.  "  I 
thought  so!  A  sawed  off  Colt.  Take  the  car 
tridges  out  of  it,  and  give  it  to  Lichee  to  play 
with.  Take  that  knife,  too,  that  he  wears  in 
his  belt;  he  sports  that  so  open  that  I  guess 
he  's  got  another  hidden.  Find  it." 

It  was  as  Bessie  said.  The  man  had  a 
second  knife  in  reserve.  And  his  face  became 
apoplectic  with  fury  when  this  last  resource 
was  taken  from  him.  Foam  appeared  on  his 
lips  and,  rolling  his  head  until  he  could  see 
Bessie,  "Damn  your  soul  to  hell!"  he  cried, 
"  you  blank,  you  blank,  you  blank !  " 

"  Jili,  said  Bessie,  "  if  that  sewer  of  a 
mouth  starts  to  run  again,  get  your  sail- 
needle  and  take  a  couple  of  stitches  in  it." 


208     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

"  Carrol,"  I  said,  "  I  Ve  enough  humanity 
in  me  to  advise  you  to  be  careful.  You  Ve 
spoken  as  a  man  has  no  right  to  speak  to  a 
woman  were  she  Satan's  mother.  Try  it 
again,  and  your  lips  will  be  sewed  together 
like  the  lips  of  a  wound;  the  stitches  to  be 
taken  out  at  meal  time.  Behave  yourself,  and 
you  will  be  treated  reasonably  well." 

He  made  no  answer  at  all;  and  presently 
was  carried  into  the  galley,  placed  near  the 
stove  to  dry,  and  fed  by  hand  like  a  baby. 

Not  long  afterward  Kelsey,  Brandreth  and 
Swigot  came  over  the  side;  and  three  more 
forlorn,  meek,  spiritless  sheep  I  have  never 
had  the  pleasure  to  see.  And  they  took  to  the 
idea  of  being  bound  with  ropes  as  peacefully 
as  tired  men  take  to  soft  beds  at  the  close  of 
the  long  day. 

Two  small  penknives,  one  vicious  clasp 
knife  and  a  revolver  whose  mainspring  turned 
out  to  be  broken,  were  found  about  them ; 
and  in  Kelsey's  watch  pocket  a  small  bottle 
labelled  Spirits  of  Lavender.  Bessie  was  about 
to  heave  this  overboard,  but  Carmen  begged 
for  it,  saying  that  it  was  a  well-known  and 
harmless  remedy  for  insomnia,  and  that  she 
stood  in  great  need  of  something  of  the  kind. 
I  think  she  spoke  in  good  faith. 


TERMS  209 

"  But,"  said  Bessie,  "  how  do  you  know  it 's 
what  the  label  says  ?  " 

Carmen  uncorked  the  bottle  and  sniffed  at 
the  contents.  Then  smiled  suddenly  into  one 
of  her  rare  and  animated  smiles. 

"  You  tell  by  thata  smell,"  said  she.  And 
she  recorked  the  bottle  and  thrust  it  into  her 
bosom.  "  It 's  my  hands,"  she  said,  nodding 
brightly,  "  they  keepa  me  awake.  They  have 
a  what  you  call  him  ?  " 

"Rheumatism?"  I  suggested,  and  she 
nodded. 

"  It 's  this  cold,  damp  climate,"  I  said,  "  you 
poor  soul." 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  "  here  it  is  too  fraish  for 
my  poor  bone." 


CHAPTER   XXV 

CARMEN    GIVES   ADVICE 

How  often  during  the  next  days  of  appalling 
labour  for  all  hands  did  I  envy  Carrol,  Kelsey, 
Brandreth  and  Swigot,  in  comfortable  bon 
dage,  each  with  a  pillow  to  his  head,  reclining 
in  the  warm  galley  and  resting  from  wicked 
ness!  Standing  and  contemplating  the  great 
mass  of  treasure  on  the  cliff  for  the  first  time 
was,  I  think,  the  most  delightful  and  thrilling 
occupation  upon  which  I  was  ever  engaged; 
and  I  could  have  spent  a  month  turning  over 
the  pieces,  admiring  this  admirable  golden 
bowl,  battered  as  it  was;  or  piecing  to 
gether  the  ancient  Peruvian  wainscotting,  and 
laying  it  in  order  (like  the  parts  of  a  picture 
puzzle)  upon  some  level  space  of  sand;  or  I 
could  have  looked  by  the  hour  into  the  heart  of 
one  ice  green  emerald,  and  by  the  hour  into  the 
heart  of  the  next.  Or  I  could  turn  away  from 
the  glistening,  tarnished  heap,  losing  my  vision 
in  the  distances  of  the  snow-capped  mountains 
and  flying  hand  in  hand  with  the  imagination 


CARMEN    GIVES    ADVICE       211 

to  the  active  centres  of  civilisation;  there  to 
see  myself  play  the  nabob,  the  philanthropist, 
the  friend  of  the  poor;  my  yacht  should  be 
white  and  tall  upon  the  blue  waters  of  Long 
Island  sound;  my  house  should  stand  where- 
ever  skies  are  bluest,  and  nature  is  most  grate 
ful  to  the  helping  hand.  I  imagined  in  terms 
of  hundred  acre  lawns  and  marble  stables.  Or 
better,  and  less  personally,  I  dreamed  that  I 
should  do  something  noble  with  my  money, 
of  great  good  to  the  many,  enduring  and  free 
from  taint;  though  just  what  that  should  be 
I  was  admittedly  unable  to  specify.  In  short, 
like  every  other  natural  man  in  this  world,  I 
wanted  the  pleasure  and  the  ease  and  the  pic- 
turesqueness  of  great  wealth,  without  any  of 
the  labour.  I  wanted  to  sit  upon  the  cliff  and 
play  with  the  museum  pieces  of  the  treasure, 
and  guess  the  value  they  would  bring  in  the 
market.  But  after  one  hour  of  it  exactly,  I 
did  not  want  to  be  one  of  the  pack  mules  that 
must  carry  the  stuff  like  so  much  coal,  and  help 
store  it  aboard  the  Shantung.  Do  you  know 
that  sixty  pounds  of  gold  is  no  easier  to  carry 
than  sixty  pounds  of  offal,  and  is  heavier  upon 
the  shoulders  of  a  man  than  the  whole  of  his 
sins?  But  such  is  the  fact.  And  when  you 
get  under  your  load  for  the  twentieth  time  in 


212     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

one  day,  and  the  straps  of  your  panier  settle 
themselves  into  the  raw  furrows  on  your  shoul 
ders,  and  when  after  a  heavy  stumble  the  sixty 
pounds  hits  you  a  concentrated  jarring  bump 
upon  the  spine,  then,  indeed,  you  begin  to  un 
derstand  the  woes  of  the  rich.  And  the  woes 
of  the  rich  are  just  as  woful  as  the  woes  of 
the  man  who  dynamites  them.  And  this,  hav 
ing  moved  upon  my  own  shoulders  about  a  ton 
of  bullion  in  two  days'  time,  I  myself  am  pre 
pared  to  certify,  laying,  if  requested,  my  right 
hand  truthfully  upon  The  Book. 

When  at  last  it  came  to  moving  the  silver  — 
and  this  was  of  problematical  value  owing  to 
the  depths  to  which  it  was  bitten  by  tarnish 
and  destroyed,  I  struck  work.  Cold  as  was 
the  wind  and  the  drizzle,  I  stripped  off  my 
coat  and  shirt,  and  instructed  Jili  (who,  ever 
since  I  had  gone  as  an  exchange  for  Lichee, 
had  been  very  tender  writh  me  and  thoughtful 
of  my  comfort)  as  a  committee  of  one  to  ex 
amine  my  shoulders.  He  reported  them  unfit 
for  work,  and  though  at  a  pinch  I  might  have 
carried  one  more  load  (consisting  of  nothing 
less  valuable  than  Koh-i-nurs  I  wras  invalided 
to  do  guard  duty  over  our  four  precious  rascals 
in  the  galley.  Hitherto  I  had  only  taken  my 
turn  at  this;  but  for  the  whole  of  the  last  day 


CARMEN    GIVES   ADVICE       213 

during  which  we  lay  anchored  in  the  fiord,  I 
kept  the  necessary  eye  on  them,  and  played  the 
bugbear  generally. 

The  four,  now  well-fed  and  warmed,  began 
to  take  life  very  easily,  and  to  joke  with  their 
jailors;  but  that  the  least  opportunity  would 
fill  them  once  more  with  the  old  Nick  was  not 
to  be  doubted.  During  that  last  day,  for  in 
stance,  Carrol  proposed,  if  I  would  set  them 
free  and  arm  them,  to  make  me  sole  master 
of  three  parts  of  the  treasure.  To  murder  the 
Chinamen  was  the  merest  detail  of  the  plan; 
and,  although  he  opened  the  matter  jocosely, 
I  could  see  that  he  was  not  altogether  sure  as 
to  whether  I  was  to  be  tempted  or  not.  Having 
heard  him  out  to  the  end,  however,  I  laughed 
in  his  face,  and  he  laughed  back. 

"  You  treated  me  so  faithfully  and  honour 
ably  in  Frisco,"  said  I,  "  that  I  feel  sure  you 
would  do  the  same  now  if  I  set  you  free.  All 
you  have  to  do  is  to  give  your  word,  to  be  be 
lieved  by  any  one  aboard  this  ship.  Why,  man, 
I  don't  believe,  I  honestly  don't,  that  you  ever 
so  much  as  kept  a  promise  given  by  yourself  — 
to  yourself.  Suppose  that  yours  had  been  the 
successful  party,  how  many  of  them  would 
you  have  allowed  to  survive  to  tell  the  tale? 
And  I  '11  give  you  others  a  piece  of  mighty  good 


214     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

advice.  It 's  this  —  when  you  go  ashore  at 
Rio  with  your  share  of  the  fifty  thousand  that 's 
to  be  handed  over  to  you,  keep  an  eye  on  Carrol 
here.  He  '11  want  the  whole  of  it,  and  he  '11 
get  it  —  if  you  don't  watch  out." 

"  Parrish  don't  think  much  of  you,  do  'e?  " 
said  Kelsey.  "  And  I  dunno  's  I  blame  'im." 

"  It 's  a  long  rolling  road  to  Rio,"  said  Bran- 
dreth  cheerfully,  "  and  between  here  and  there 
the  ocean's  deep,  and  maybe  we  '11  all  roll  on 
the  bottom  together." 

"  I  dreamt  last  night,"  said  Swigot,  "  that 
the  damned  ship  blew  up,  and  while  I  was  in 
the  air  the  ropes  that  bound  me  bursts  asunder, 
and  I  fell  flop  into  the  water,  and  was  just 
striking  out  for  shore  when  I  gets  all  tangled 
up  in  the  Chinks'  pig-tails  and  is  dragged 
under." 

"  On  the  level,  Jim,"  said  Carrol,  "  what  do 
you  think  the  treasure  's  worth  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  I  toted  the  smallest  share 
of  anybody  from  the  cliff  to  the  boat.  And  I 
calculated  roughly  that  that  share  was  about 
twenty-eight  hundred  pounds  gold  —  that 's 
more  than  a  million  dollars,  just  what  I  carried 
alone.  Some  of  the  boys  made  as  many  trips 
as  I  did  and  carried  about  a  hundred  pounds 
each  time  to  my  sixty.  Then  there  are  the 


CARMEN    GIVES   ADVICE       215 

emeralds  and  things,  and  the  good  Lord  only 
knows  what  they're  worth!" 

;'  When  I  was  in  the  land  of  the  free,"  said 
Kelsey  pathetically,  "  emeralds  was  high." 

And  thus  we  argued  the  matter,  and  esti 
mated.  Just  as  in  a  cafe  four  men  may  sit 
about  a  table  and  guess  by  the  hour  as  to 
the  fortune  of  Mr.  Vanderbilt  or  Mr.  Rocke 
feller;  starting  upon  guessed  premises,  and  ar 
riving,  of  course,  nowhere.  It  was  wonderful 
to  see  how  cheerful  a  topic  to  these  four  men 
was  that  of  the  millions  that  they  had  all  but 
secured  for  themselves.  So  every  family  loves 
to  dwell  upon  the  gold  mine  that  should  have 
made  it  rich ;  or  upon  the  timber  lands  sold  at 
the  wrong  time,  by  the  unprophetic  grand 
father.  And  so,  I  fancy,  the  civilised  world 
over,  the  most  toothsome  of  all  gossip  where 
men  are  met  together  is  that  of  unboundable 
wealth.  And  if  it  were  not  for  heavy  gold, 
light  women,  and  fast  horses,  civilised  man 
would  soon  lose  the  use  of  his  tongue. 

A  figure  blocked  the  galley  door,  and  a 
shadow  fell  among  us  conversing.  Carmen 
was  on  her  rounds.  Fifty  times  a  day  she 
would  thus  steal  silently  upon  the  prisoners, 
stand  a  while  in  the  frame  of  the  door,  look 
her  fill  upon  Carrol  in  his  fallen  fortunes,  and 


216     YELLOW   MEN   AND    GOLD 

steal  as  quietly  away.  But  on  this  occasion 
she  spoke. 

"  It  is  better,"  she  said,  "  that  fat  man  be 
killed  before  he  do  mischief.  You  think  he 
mind  them  rope?  Not  so  much."  And  she 
snapped  her  distorted  little  fingers.  "  You 
keep  faith  with  heem,  but  nobody  keep  faith 
with  me.  When  I  say  I  come  along,  and  not 
want  any  gol'  you  promise  me  that  man  for 
myself.  Now  you  not  give  heem  me.  But  I 
tell  you  I  creep  in  here  some  fine  night,  when 
nobody  on  the  look,  and  then  I  have  my  little 
fling  with  heem." 

She  gazed  for  a  long  time  into  Carrol's  face, 
and  he  went  white  under  the  stare  of  her  great 
accusing  stag  eyes. 

"  If  I  not  kill  heem,"  she  said,  "  that  ver' 
bad.  When  he  break  loose,  and  cut  your  heart 
out,  you  not  like  hear  me  say,  '  I  tole  you  so.' 
That  man  poison,  just  lak  snake.  He  wear 
thata  rope  'cause  it  suit  heem;  but  he  not 
have  to." 

She  turned  and  went  as  suddenly  and  as 
silently  as  she  had  come;  but  her  words  had 
blunted  the  edge  of  cheerful  conversation. 
And  Carrol  in  particular  was  badly  scared  by 
them. 

"  I  tell  you,"  he  said,  "  I  don't  like  it.     I 


CARMEN   GIVES   ADVICE       217 

was  promised  a  safe  passage  to  Rio,  and  I 
submitted  to  be  bound.  I  demand  either  that 
these  ropes  come  off,  or  that  I  be  guarded  night 
and  day.  I  tell  you  it  gives  me  the  chills  to 
think  of  that  revengeful  slut  creeping  in  here 
some  night  and  cutting  my  throat." 

'  You  may  be  quite  sure,"  said  I,  "  that 
anything  of  that  kind  will  be  prevented." 

"  Quite  sure  's  not  sure  enough,"  said  he. 

;'  Well,"  said  I,  '  it 's  the  nearest  sure  you 
can  be  in  this  world." 

"  And  to  think,"  said  he,  in  the  tone  of  one 
who  has  missed  the  short  end  of  a  hundred 
to  one  shot  at  the  races,  "  that  I  could  have 
killed  her,  one  time  in  Lima,  just  as  well  as 
not,  could  have  had  the  business  hushed  up, 
and  never  need  have  had  this  hanging  over  me. 
I  tell  you  it 's  damned  unpleasant,  not  to  put 
it  stronger." 

The  next  day  dawned  with  watery  sun 
shine  and  capricious  breezes.  We  got  up  the 
Shantung's  anchor,  and  stood  down  the  fiord 
for  the  more  open  stretches  of  Beagle  Channel, 
and  about  ten  o'clock  had  left  the  scenes  of 
our  desperate  adventures  behind.  Looking 
astern  the  great  white  blotches  of  the  head 
land  dwindled,  and  ran  together  until  they  re 
sembled  once  more  a  saucy  schooner  under 


218     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

full  sail;  and  dwindled  and  shrank  to  a  spot, 
to  a  pinhead,  and  vanished  at  last  from  our 
eyes  forever. 

Of  the  various  emotions  displayed  at  this 
time  Bessie's  was  the  most  odd.  For  she  was 
moved  suddenly  to  tears,  and  clasped  Lichee 
to  her  heart,  and  fondled  him,  and  finally 
pushed  him  away  from  her,  and  ran  into  the 
cabin,  and  sat  for  many  hours  among  the 
coffins  of  the  dead. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

AT    SEA   AGAIN 

To  run  out  of  Beagle  Channel,  turn  the  corner, 
so  to  speak,  and  follow  up  the  eastern  coast  of 
South  America,  embraced  but  the  first  princi 
ples  of  navigation;  eliminating  a  perilous  re- 
passage  of  Magellan,  or  the  dangerous  gales 
and  seas  of  Cape  Horn.  We  were  now  so  rich 
that  it  mattered  little  in  what  port  of  the  civil 
ised  world  we  should  first  anchor;  let  it  be 
only  the  nearest  and  easiest  to  reach,  and  one 
from  which  trustworthy  steamers  sailed,  or 
trains  ran.  But  the  troubles  which  such  a 
course  promised  to  prevent  were  inflicted 
upon  us  in  other  ways.  Our  venture  was  pre 
destined  to  trouble;  where  navigation  should 
have  been  easy  it  was  made  difficult  by  fog. 
And  in  comparison  to  Chang,  Jili  was  no  great 
sailor;  instead  of  incurring  dangers  on  the 
side  of  boldness,  he  incurred  them  by  caution 
and  procrastination.  And  instead  of  feeling 
his  way  northward  through  the  fog,  he  stood 
day  after  day  straight  out  to  sea;  we  weath 
ered  a  very  wicked  fifty-hour  gale  that  never 
so  much  as  lifted  a  corner  of  the  fog;  we  came 


220     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

within  an  ace  of  running  down  an  uncharted 
island;  and  we  sprang  a  leak  forward,  which, 
though  not  an  actual  menace,  obliged  us  to 
keep  the  pumps  pretty  active.  And  when  at 
last  fine  blue  sea-weather  put  in  a  tardy  appear 
ance,  and  our  minds  were  at  rest  as  to  the 
ship's  position,  Nature,  not  yet  ready  to  let  us 
go  scot  free,  visited  us  with  the  scurvy.  Labour 
that  was  almost  unendurable,  and  long  con 
tinuance  in  a  narrow,  salty  and  not  particularly 
nutritious  diet,  had  its  usual  results;  especially 
the  labour.  For  those  who  had  worked  the 
hardest  were  the  first  to  fall  sick;  while  those 
who  had  not  worked  at  all  escaped.  The  pas 
sengers  or  prisoners  continued  in  excellent 
health  and  spirits,  with  the  exception  of 
Carrol;  and  whatever  it  was  that  ailed  him 
it  was  not  the  scurvy;  he  seemed  to  suffer 
more  from  general  langour  and  loss  of  appe 
tite  than  from  anything  specific;  and  com 
plained  that  his  whole  skeleton  was  outlined 
in  aches.  The  women  had  no  touch  of  the 
scurvy,  nor  had  Lichee;  and  my  own  case  of 
it  was  more  in  the  nature  of  a  threat  than  a 
development.  But  the  Chinamen,  for  what 
reason  I  do  not  know,  unless  it  was  that  they 
had  endured  such  cruel  labours,  displayed  no 
power  whatever  to  resist  the  disease.  Irregu- 


AT    SEA   AGAIN  221 

lar  red  blotches  splotched  their  emaciated  yel 
low  faces;  their  bones  ached,  their  gums  bled; 
depression,  exhaustion  and  a  disgust  of  them 
selves  marked  them.  They  were  paying  an 
awful  price  for  riches.  It  seemed  positively 
wicked  not  to  put  the  well  men  to  work;  but 
it  was  a  risk  that  we  dared  not  run;  for  the 
Chinamen,  though  they  continued  dejectedly 
to  sail  the  Shantung,  were  in  no  condition, 
immensely  superior  though  they  were  numeri 
cally,  to  handle  a  spirited  mutiny  with  any 
certainty.  So  obvious  was  this  that  Kelsey, 
Brandreth  and  Swigot  begged  like  so  many 
children  to  be  freed  from  their  bonds  and  put 
to  work.  A  dozen  times  a  day  they  volun 
teered  for  work,  their  eyes  gleaming  and  glis 
tening;  but  when  denied,  it  was  really  comical 
to  see  how  ill  they  bore  the  disappointment. 

One  thing  was  certain.  We  must  crack  on 
all  sail  and  make  for  the  nearest  fresh  vege 
tables.  And  to  that  intent  we  hauled  our 
wind  and  steered  for  Port  Pazoo  in  the  Gulf 
of  San  Matias.  None  of  us  had  ever  heard  of 
the  place ;  it  was  not  sure  we  should  find  there 
what  we  sought ;  and,  as  the  saying  is,  we  were 
merely  taking  a  chance  on  it.  It  was  the  near 
est  named  settlement  that  our  chart  gave,  and 
the  wind  blowing  strongly,  and  with  every  ap- 


222      YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

pearance  of  steadiness  from  the  southeast,  had 
not  a  little  to  do  with  the  decision. 

Shortly  after  we  had  made  our  landfall, 
Ah  King  died,  and  was  sealed  in  his  coffin,  and 
laid  by  the  side  of  his  friends  and  comrades 
who  had  gone  before.  But  in  spite  of  this  sad 
ending  to  a  cheerful,  useful  and  laborious 
life,  the  effect  of  sighting  land  could  not  but 
cheer  us  to  the  marrow.  It  looked  a  green, 
fertile  country;  and  it  served  like  some  potent 
drug  to  arrest  the  course  of  the  scurvy.  Else 
must  Ah  King's  death  have  been  followed  by 
others ;  for  very  sick  men  are  often  like  sheep 
about  dying.  Together  they  hold  out  for 
awhile;  then  one  takes  the  plunge  and  the 
others  make  haste  to  follow. 

Of  all  our  ship's  company  Carrol  alone  was 
not  cheered  and  revivified  by  the  sight  of 
land;  for  two  days  he  had  refused  food;  and 
he  had  all  the  appearance  of  a  very  sick  man. 
Perhaps  he  realised  that  any  desperate  plan 
he  may  have  formed  of  rising  and  taking  the 
schooner  at  sea  was  over  and  that  his  game 
was  up.  He  spoke,  if  at  all,  very  quietly  and 
soberly;  he  seemed  to  think  there  was  a  pos 
sibility  of  his  dying;  and  he  was  so  meek  as 
to  express  regret  for  the  life  he  had  led  and  the 
deeds  he  had  done.  //  he  died,  he  said,  he 


AT    SEA   AGAIN  223 

wished  his  share  of  the  fifty  thousand  to  go  to 
a  charity  which  he  named  in  Los  Angeles;  a 
charity,  he  said,  that  his  own  mother,  rest  her 
soul!  had  founded.  I  think  that  in  all  the 
seven  seas  you  could  not  have  lighted  on  a  more 
Christian  spoken  man.  In  the  expression  of 
his  face,  calm,  gentle  and  tolerant  and  in  the 
quiet,  colourless  words  of  his  mouth,  with  the 
occasional  quaint  sanctimonious  turns,  he  was 
the  most  vivid  illustration,  nay  illumination,  of 
that  ancient  saw : 

"  When  the  devil  is  sick 
The  devil  a  saint  would  be ; 
When  the  devil  is  well 
The  devil  a  saint  is  he." 

A  pleasant  human  note,  coming  as  it  did 
from  so  evil  a  man,  was  the  pathetic  concern 
exhibited  by  Kelsey  for  his  fallen  leader;  and 
Brandreth  and  Swigot  seemed  to  have  a  real 
tenderness  and  affection  for  him.  Yet  God 
alone  knows  what  he  may  ever  have  done  to 
deserve  it  at  their  hands  or  another's. 

We  came  at  last  to  anchor  off  the  umbra 
geous,  little  red-roofed  settlement  called  Port 
Pazoo,  and  learned  within  the  next  twenty 
minutes  in  the  person  of  Don  Phillip  Emanuel 
Esquada,  that  the  diminutive  place  maintained 
a  customs  and  a  quarantine. 


CHAPTER 
TWENTY- 
SEVEN 


DON  PHILLIP 
EMANUEL 
ESQUADA 


THERE  was  nothing  Spanish  about  the  little 
man  but  his  name.  For  he  was  a  Vermonter 
by  birth  as  he  made  haste  to  explain;  and  a 
dentist  by  education.  He  had  taken  a  Spanish 
name  the  quicker  to  advance  politically;  and 
had  assumed  all  the  prerogatives  of  a  bona  fide 
physician,  a  profession  more  lucrative  in  Port 
Pazoo  than  dentistry.  The  little  creature  had 
bright  eyes,  a  dancing  step  and  a  prodigious 
moustache.  He  was  a  veritable  wind-bag  for 
loquacity;  and  yet  a  man  that  rang  kind  and 
honest;  especially,  I  think,  to  so  poor  a  judge 
of  physiognomy  as  myself. 

"  You  've  got  sick  aboard?  "  said  he,  in  his 
quick  chirping  voice  of  a  dickie  bird.  "  What 
ails  them  —  scurvy?  /  see;  dose  'em  all 
round,  and  send  you  out  a  boat-load  of  salad. 
Any  other  sick?  One  case.  Don't  know  what 
it  is  —  eh?  Mysterious  —  /  see.  I'll  have  a 
look  at  him." 

"  We  're  obliged  to  keep  him  in  confinement, 
doctor,"  said  I. 


PHILLIP    EMANUEL    ESQUADA   225 

"  Mutinous  —  something  of  that  sort  ?  "  — 
he  interrupted.  "  7  see  ...  " 

'  Well  not  that  exactly,"  and  I  was  for  giv 
ing  a  certain  truthful,  if  not  complete,  account 
of  the  situation,  but  Don  Phillip  had  not  been 
born  with  the  faculty  of  listening  —  at  least 
to  me. 

"  /  see  —  /  see,"  he  said.  "  Now  where  is 
he?  ...  pretty  woman  that  .  .  .  your  wife? 
.  .  .  mistress?  .  .  .  ' 

"  No,"  I  shouted,  "  nothing  of  the  kind!  " 

"  /  see  —  7  see,"  he  said,  "  pretty  —  plump 
— affectionate — good-natured — big  eyes.  Now 
about  this  mutineer  ...  In  the  galley  —  eh? 
.  .  .  Have  the  goodness  to  point  him  out." 

Carrol  had  rolled  over  on  his  face  and  was 
moaning  and  breathing  very  heavily. 

"  Looks  like  stomach-ache  —  roll  over,  my 
man  —  glary  eyes  —  just  put  out  your  tongue 
—  phew !  White  as  chalk  —  pulse  —  hum  — • 
hum  —  regular  enough  at  the  moment  —  but 
weak  —  very  weak.  How  long  have  you  been 
feeling  bad  .  .  .  Any  fever — that 's  bad  .  .  . 
ever  been  like  this  before  .  .  .  plenty  of  fat 
left  .  .  .  damned  if  I  know  what 's  the  matter 
with  you,  my  man." 

"  Water !  "  moaned  Carrol. 

"  I  stepped  out  of  the  galley  to  fetch  him  a 


226     YELLOW   MEN    AND    GOLD 

dipper  full  and  when  I  returned  the  doctor 
was  kneeling  beside  him,  and  pressing  his  ear 
to  him  here  and  there  as  if  to  listen  to  the 
workings  of  his  heart  and  lungs.  But  in  those 
few7  moments  a  change  had  come  over  both 
Carrol  and  the  doctor.  The  doctor's  loquacity 
had  left  him;  and  Carrol  had  in  each  cheek  a 
spot  of  colour. 

"  Here  's  the  water,"  said  I.  "  and  by  the 
Lord  Harry,  doctor,  your  man  looks  better 
already." 

"Better!"  said  the  doctor,  "not  much - 
he  's  not  better.     Look  here  .  .  ."     He  rose 
from  his  knees  and  whispered  in  my  ear: 

"  It 's  incipient  yellow  fever,  I  'm  afraid." 
The  little  man's  voice  shook.  "  It  has  n't 
reached  the  virulent  contagious  stage  —  but  it 's 
on  the  verge.  Did  you  see  his  tongue?  Now 
you  must  see  what  arrangements  can  be  made 
to  quarantine  him  from  the  others." 

"  We  must  put  him  ashore."  I  said. 

"  Not  much,  you  must  n't,"  said  he.  "  What 
do  we  keep  a  quarantine  for?  " 

'''  But,"  said  I,  "  I  have  never  heard  of  yellow 
fever  coming  on  this  way  —  and  hanging  off 
so  long.  Why  the  man  's  been  complaining  for 
weeks." 

"  There  are  twenty  forms  of  yellow  fever," 


PHILLIP    EMANUEL    ESQUADA   227 

said  the  doctor.  This  is  one  of  them  .  .  .  And 
by  the  way,  if  you  '11  muster  the  crew,  I  '11  - 
He  seemed  unaccountably  agitated,  and  I  at 
tributed  this  to  his  personal  fear  of  taking  the 
fever  from  Carrol.  "  I  '11,"  he  said,  "  I  '11  dose 
—  them  —  all  around.  Tell  them  to  go  into 
the  forecastle  and  lie  down  in  their  bunks ;  I  've 
some  strong  specific  here,  and  it 's  best  to  rest 
after  taking  it." 

It  was  n't  very  difficult  to  persuade  the 
Chinamen  to  lie  down;  they  were  very  tired, 
poor  fellows,  sick  and  listless.  Jili  especially 
looked  to  be  at  death's  door.  They  drank  a 
tumbler  apiece  of  the  medicine  the  doctor  had 
mixed  for  them;  made  no  complaint  of  its 
taste,  which  he  said  they  would  find  bitter  and 
disagreeable;  and  one  and  all  turned  their 
faces  to  the  wall  and  lay  like  dead  men. 

"  Now  boys,"  said  the  doctor,  "  that  medi 
cine  will  begin  to  burn  presently  —  but  don't 
mind  —  that  only  shows  it 's  working  .  .  . 
Now,  Mr.  Parrish,  I  Ve  mixed  a  glass  for 
you,  too." 

"  No,  no,"  I  said,  "  a  little  fresh  salad  will 
fix  me.  There  's  not  anything  really  the  matter 
with  me." 

Jili  turnecl  his  face  toward  us,  attempted  to 
smile  and  rubbing  his  abdomen  with  one  hand, 


'''  Him  burn  all  same  fire,"  he  said. 

"  That's  right  —  that's  right,"  said  the 
doctor.  '  The  more  it  burns  now  the  quicker 
it  will  stop  burning."  He  seemed  unduly  agi 
tated  and  in  a  great  hurry  to  get  on  deck  into 
the  open  air. 

"  It 's  too  close  for  me,"  he  said,  "  down 
here." 

I  followed  him  up  the  ladder.  Bessie, 
holding  Lichee  by  one  hand,  was  waiting 
for  us. 

"  Have  you  given  them  some  medicine, 
doctor  ?  "  she  asked. 

'  Yes  —  yes,"  he  said  hastily,  "  but  I  must 
ask  you  to  make  that  child  scarce.  You  Ve  a 
case  of  yellow  fever  aboard  —  the  man  Carrol 
—  better  go  into  the  cabin  until  we  Ve  made 
arrangements  for  disinfection,  and  so  forth. 
Excuse  me,  Mr.  Parrish,  I  must  send  my  boat 
ashore  for  a  supply  of  vegetables." 

He  gave  an  order  to  the  men  wrho  had  rowed 
him  out,  and  they  cast  loose  and  pushed  away 
toward  the  landing. 

"  Now  then,"  said  the  doctor,  "  I  '11  have 
another  look  at  Carrol." 

This  time  I  did  not  accompany  him  into  the 
galley,  but  stood  idly  looking  at  the  distant 
town,  longing  to  stroll  about  its  shady  streets, 


PHILLIP    EMANUEL    ESQUADA   229 

and  to  eat  myself  sick  with  its  fresh  fruits. 
Presently  I  heard  what  sounded  like  a  groan. 
I  turned,  and  saw  the  face  of  Jili  half  out  of 
the  forecastle  hatchway.  His  chin  was  turned 
forward  and  up;  and  his  eyes  were  frightfully 
rolling;  a  steady  humming  sound  of  moaning 
and  groaning  seemed  to  pass  him,  coming  from 
the  forecastle,  and  spreading  into  the  open  air. 
Jili's  thin  hands  clutched  the  edge  of  the 
hatchway,  and  he  seemed  to  be  making  semi 
conscious  efforts  to  drag  himself  upon  the 
deck.  Then,  as  I  looked,  his  head  rolled 
further  and  further  back,  his  hands  relaxed 
their  hold,  and  he  fell  suddenly  out  of  sight. 

I  sprang  into  the  galley  to  call  the  doctor. 
But  before  I  could  speak  his  name  I  was 
thrown  violently  to  the  floor,  beaten  about  the 
head,  and  bound  hand  and  foot,  and  chucked 
into  a  corner. 

Carrol  stood  over  me,  smiling. 

"Wonderful  man,  the  doctor,"  he  said. 
"  Cures  me,  puts  the  Chinks  out  of  their  pain, 
and  now  look  at  him !  "  I  heard  the  sounds 
that  accompany  sea-sickness,  and  turning  my 
head  saw  the  little  doctor  bending  over  double 
and  convulsed  by  nausea. 

"  Luckily,"  said  Carrol,  "  he  kept  his  nerve 
until  he  'd  done  the  trick  .  .  .  Brandreth,  go 


230     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

and  batten  down  the  forecastle  hatch;  the 
Chinks  ought  to  be  quiet  enough  by  now,  but 
you  never  can  tell.  Swigot,  you  and  Kelsey 
take  some  of  these  rope  ends  and  make  the 
women  fast.  As  for  me  .  .  .  my  God  I  eat 
.  .  .  Jim  —  Jim,"  he  said,  "  it  takes  a  nerve 
to  starve  yourself  sick  .  .  .  '  He  burst  out 
laughing.  "  And  you  thought  I  had  the  yellow 
fever,  did  you?  .  .  .  Buck  up  there,  doctor. 
You  played  your  part  to  perfection.  I  give  you 
a  mark  of  ten,  as  the  boys  say." 

All  this  while  he  was  ransacking  the  galley 
for  food,  and  cramming  such  as  he  found  into 
his  ravenous  mouth. 

"  And  so,  Jim,"  said  he,  "  you  would  n't  take 
your  medicine  like  a  man?  You  were  so 
damned  fond  of  those  yellow  friends  of  yours 
that  I  thought  you  'd  like  to  go  with  them 
wherever  they  Ve  gone." 

"  Was  it  poison  you  gave  them?  "  I  faltered. 

"  Was  it  poison  —  ! "  and  he  slapped  his 
thighs  as  if  an  excellent  joke  had  been  passed 
—  "  and  what  would  we  give  them  — soothing 
syrup? " 

"  God,"  I  moaned,  and  then  I  am  afraid  I 
cried  a  little,  what  between  horror  and  fear. 
For  I  could  not  but  think  that  my  own  end  was 
near  at  hand.  And  almost  I  wished  that 


PHILLIP    EMANUEL    ESQUADA   231 

I  had  drunk  of  the  poison  lest  a  worse  fate 
befall. 

Presently  Kelsey  poked  his  head  in  at  the 
door. 

(<  Kelsey,  sir,"  said  he,  "  to  report  that  the 
ladies  has  been  secured." 

"  Ah,"  said  Carrol,  "  and  they  sent  me  their 
love,  I  calculate." 

"Well  not  Bess,  sir,"  said  Kelsey.  "But 
little  Spanish,  she  said  to  say  as  how  she  was 
always  all  yours." 

'  Well,"  said  Carrol,  "  since  all 's  ship 
shape,  I  guess  we  better  get  up  the  hook  and 
make  sail.  Cheer  up,  doctor  —  there 's  a  million 
of  gold  belonging  to  you  on  this  ship,  and  that 
ought  to  be  heavy  enough  to  keep  food  on  your 
stomach.  Jim  -  '  he  turned  at  the  door, 
"  don't  look  so  silly  —  you  '11  be  well  treated  - 
you  '11  even  have  those  ropes  taken  off  when 
we  are  out  of  sight  of  land." 

An  hour  later  the  Shantung  was  standing 
once  more  for  open  sea.  Carrol  came  into  the 
galley  and  cut  the  ropes  which  bound  me. 

"  You  're  wanted  on  deck,"  said  he. 

"Why?"  said  I. 

"  To  help  throw  the  dead  overboard,"  said 
he.  "  The  forecastle  's  all  cluttered  up  with 
them,  and  so's  the  cabin." 


232     YELLOW   MEN   AND    GOLD 

"Bessie!"  I  half  asked. 

"  Still  showing  fight,"  said  he.  "  My  God, 
man,  you  're  not  in  love  with  the  woman,  are 
you?  Because  if  you  are  —  well,  damned  if 
I  don't  begin  to  feel  sorry  for  you." 

"When  are  you  going  to  finish  with  me?" 
I  asked. 

'  Why,  this  is  my  plan,"  he  said  in  a  confi 
dential  tone,  "  and  you  '11  agree  it 's  a  good 
one.  We  're  going  to  lay  a  course  for  Rio, 
and  some  time  between  now  and  landfall 
we  shall  expect  you  to  make  yourself  scarce. 
That 's  all.  God  knows,  I  've  enough  murders 
on  my  conscience  to  last  me,  and  I  don't  want 
another.  So,  Jim,  any  time  you  don't  like  your 
company  you  can  either  get  a  prescription  from 
the  doctor  or  —  jump." 

"  Thank  you,"  I  said. 

"  And  meanwhile,"  said  he,  "  you  will  be 
free  day  times  to  go  and  come  as  you  like;  to 
eat  with  us,  and  to  steep  your  sense  of  the  pic 
turesque  in  such  bacchanalian  scenes  as  are 
liable  to  occur  from  time  to  time.  Boys  will 
be  boys!"  said  he.  "And  now  let  us  bury 
the  dead!" 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

WAITING 

SINCE  I  was  allowed  to  come  and  go  as  I 
pleased,  I  passed  the  rest  of  the  day  with 
the  women  and  Lichee  in  the  cabin.  They  were 
no  longer  bound,  but  had  been  forbidden  the 
deck  under  pain  of  death;  it  being  the  inten 
tion,  I  suppose,  to  reduce  them  to  quiet  sub 
mission,  by  this  and  other  bullying  methods. 
And  woful  as  was  my  own  prospective  fate, 
I  am  happy  to  think  that  at  this  time  my 
thoughts  were  mostly  for  them.  I  was  to 
die,  before  very  long,  by  my  own  hand,  accord 
ing  to  Carrol's  calculations;  but  Bessie  and 
Carmen  were  to  furnish  sport,  before  their 
necks  were  wrung  for  them;  and  dreadful 
as  that  thought  must  have  been  to  them,  yet 
I  think  it  was  more  dreadful  to  me.  And  I 
was  resolved  that  when  the  time  came,  when 
the  first  violence  was  offered  to  one  or  the 
other,  I  should  choose  that  moment  for  my 
enforced  act  of  suicide.  But  it  should  not 
be  a  meek  and  sheepish  finale.  Man  of  peace 
that  I  was,  I  was  determined  to  go  war- 


234     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

likely  out  of  the  world,  with  blood  upon  my 
hands. 

"  I  tell  you,"  said  Carmen,  "  for  to  kill  that 
man  long  time  ago.  You  not  do  it,  an'  now 
I  say  '  I  tol'  you  so/  " 

'  We  were  fools,"  I  said. 

"  An'  now  what  become  of  us  woman,  I  ask  ? " 

"  Now  look  here,"  said  Bessie,  her  face 
haggard  and  white  with  grief,  but  the  lustre 
and  shining  quality  of  her  eyes  undimmed, 
"  one  thing  at  a  time.  We  're  not  threatened 
at  the  moment,  and  won't  be  as  long  as  this 
wind  holds.  For  God's  sake  let 's  have  no  post 
mortems,  or  ante  mortems.  Let 's  either  get 
together  and  think  a  way  out,  or  let 's  pass 
these  last  hours  cheerfully." 

"  I  think  sometimes,"  said  Carmen,  "  I  run 
out  and  jump  into  the  water." 

"  I  think  of  that,  too,"  said  Bessie.  "  But 
so  long  as  they  don't  hurt  Lichee  I  'm  going 
to  hold  on  to  life  as  hard  as  I  can  —  no  matter 
what  happens.  What  difference  does  it  make? 
I  'm  low  enough  by  all  human  rules ;  and  I  'm 
ready  to  step  lower  —  yes  smiling,  damn  it  — 
if  only  there  's  an  off  chance  that  they  '11  sicken 
of  me,  and  not  hurt  the  boy  and  put  us  ashore 
somewhere." 

"  There 's    no   chance   they   do    that,"    said 


WAITING  235 

Carmen,  "  not  me.  They  let  us  go,  we  tell  on 
them  pretty  quick.  They  not  let  that  happen." 

"  No,"  said  Bessie,  "  it 's  just  a  pipe  dream 
—  but  my  little  boy  ...  he  can't  hurt  them 
...  he  can't  bear  witness  against  them  .  .  . 
he  could  n't,  could  he,  Jim  ?  " 

"Not  legally,"  I  said.  "But  don't  you 
worry  about  him,  Bessie  —  we  're  full  grown 
and  can  stand  anything,  and  must,  I  dare  say; 
but  there  must  be  a  white  spot  in  every  man; 
and  I  believe  that  Carrol 's  got  a  speck  of  a 
one.  Honestly  I  think  he  won't  hurt  the  boy." 

The  cabin  floor  was  strongly  pitched  to  port, 
owing  to  the  deep  keeling  of  the  Shantung. 
Its  angle  was  as  a  barometer  of  danger  or 
safety.  Let  it  but  keep  its  pitch  indefinitely, 
and  the  women  were  indefinitely  safe;  for 
our  captors  would  need  every  man  among  them 
to  sail  the  ship;  but  let  the  wind  fall,  and  the 
cabin  floor  swing  back  to  the  level ;  then,  I  made 
sure,  other  matters  would  at  once  occupy  their 
minds.  But  all  that  afternoon  of  waiting  and 
thinking  out  desperate  and  futile  stratagems, 
the  boards  maintained  their  sharp  slant,  only 
varying  it  with  the  pitch  and  roll  of  the  ves 
sel;  but  toward  sundown  the  general  angle 
began  sensibly  to  diminish,  and  it  was  evident 
that  the  wind  had  begun  to  fall. 


236     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

"Wind's  falling,  Jim,"  said  Bessie. 

"  Yes,  Bessie,"  I  said. 

"  Well  —  "  she  controlled  her  voice  with 
some  difficulty  —  "  dear  old  Jim,  we  Ve  been 
good  pals.  You  Ve  liked  me  in  spite  of  the 
black  marks,  and  I  Ve  liked  you,  Gawd  knows 
how  much." 

Carmen  rose,  walked  to  the  cabin  port,  and 
stood  looking  out  upon  the  sea;  in  a  corner, 
that  same  occupied  by  Chang  in  his  coffin, 
Lichee  lay  sleeping  and  curled  into  a  ball. 

'  Jim,"  said  Bessie,  "  we  Ve  all  got  to  die 
some  time  —  and  the  thing  I  mind  most  about 
what 's  going  to  happen  to  me  is  —  oh  well  — 
that  you  should  be  alive  to  know  about  it." 

"  Bessie,"  I  said,  "  Bessie  dear  —  I  'm  a 
weakling,  God  knows  —  but  if  that 's  all  that 's 
worrying  you!  The  first  hand  that  is  laid  on 
you,  is  the  signal  I  'm  waiting  for.  I  step  out 
of  the  world  then,  Bess  —  but  not  alone,  I 
hope.  Having  lived  so  long  without  my  just 
share  of  strength  and  manliness,  it  may  be  that 
at  the  last  the  Lord  will  make  me  strong  for  a 
minute  or  two.  I  have  been  thinking  about 
it  hard  all  day  —  how  best  to  go  at  it,  and  all 
that  —  and  I  think  that  if  I  'm  very  quick  and 
very  sudden,  maybe  I  can  get  my  thumbs  into 
Carrol's  eyes  and  kill  him,  before  the  rest  can 


WAITING  237 

brush  me  off.  Any  way  that  is  how  I  shall  try 
to  —  to  enter  my  final  protest  —  that  is,  unless 
I  can  snatch  a  weapon  from  one  of  them." 

"Jim,"  said  she,  "would  you  rather  I  died 
fighting  —  or  is  it  really  nothing  to  you  one 
way  or  the  other?" 

"  Bessie,"  I  said,  and  I  took  her  hand  in 
mine,  "  it 's  so  much  to  me  that  almost  I  think 
I  would.  But  if  your  boy  is  to  be  let  off  at 
last  —  why  then,  my  dear  —  then  I  think  you 
must  n't  die." 

She  bowed  her  head  gravely.  Then  caught 
my  hand  to  her  lips  and  kissed  it. 

"  Gawd  help  us  all,"  said  she. 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

SPIRITS    OF    LAVENDER 

WITH  the  falling  of  night  there  came  a  dead 
calm.  Lichee  still  slept  in  his  corner;  while 
Bessie  and  Carmen  and  I  sat  in  silence  and 
waited.  It  grew  darker  and  darker,  but  still 
our  captors  gave  no  sign.  At  last,  however, 
we  heard  steps  upon  the  deck  without,  and 
presently  the  cabin  door  was  thrust  sharply 
ajar,  and  Carrol,  carrying  a  lanthorn,  appeared 
in  the  opening. 

"What,"  said  he,  "no  lights?  Tactful  but 
cheerless.  Well,  my  hearties,  how  goes  it?  " 

He  strode  in,  and  having  thrust  the  lanthorn 
almost  into  our  white  faces,  and  laughed,  he 
stood  it  with  a  clatter  upon  the  table. 

"  Now  then,"  said  he,  "  light  up  and  set  the 
table.  We  've  had  a  hard  day  of  it,  and  we  're 
going  to  have  a  bangup  dinner  and  pass  the 
time  with  laughter  and  song.  How 's  the  ship 
fixed  for  drinkables?" 

"  There  's  water,"  said  Bessie,  "  and  whiskey 
and  red  wine  —  Spanish  Red  —  " 

"  Spanish  Red !  "  exclaimed  Carrol,  smacking 
his  lips.  "Where  is  it?" 


SPIRITS    OF    LAVENDER        239 

"In  the  wine  locker,"  said  Bessie,  "under 
the  lower  berth  in  the  port  storeroom. 
In  there,"  and  she  nodded  in  the  direction 
of  the  closed  door.  "  Here  's  the  key."  She 
imslung  it  from  her  neck  and  held  it  out  to 
him. 

'  You  know  where  the  stuff  is,"  said  Carrol, 
"  I  appoint  you  cup-bearer.  Put  out  a  dozen 
bottles." 

Bessie  flung  the  key  on  the  floor. 

"  Now,  my  dearest  dear,"  said  Carrol,  "  don't 
be  a  fool."  ' 

Carmen  leaned  over  suddenly  and  picked  up 
the  key. 

"  I  get  him,"  she  said. 

'  That 's  right ! "  said  Carrol  heartily, 
"  there  's  a  sensible  girl.  She  knows  which 
side  her  bread  's  buttered,"  and  he  turned  on 
his  heel  and  strolled  out. 

Bessie  turned  coldly  to  Carmen. 

"  After  all  your  hotstuff  talk  about  what 
you  'd  do  to  Carrol  —  you  're  a  pretty  weak 
sister,  I  must  say." 

But  Carmen  smiled  —  almost  laughed.  And 
she  bent  down  and  whispered  so  that  both 
Bessie  and  I  could  hear. 

"  There  is  one  chance,"  she  said,  "  only 
laugh  —  an'  be  gay,  an'  set  that  table." 


240     YELLOW    MEN    AND    GOLD 

"  A  chance !  "  I  exclaimed. 

"  Better  I  not  say  a  thing,"  said  Carmen. 
"But  look — I  smile  —  almos'  I  am  happy;  I 
ask  you,  if  you  hopes  for  paradise,  you  set 
thata  table  —  an'  leave  my  little  plan  all 
to  me." 

"  Bessie,"  said  I,  "  this  is  a  straw ;  but 
what 's  good  enough  for  one  drowning  per 
son  ought  to  be  good  enough  for  another. 
Let's  set  the  table." 

:<  That  is  fine,"  said  Carmen,  "  that  is  fine." 
And  she  unlocked  the  storeroom  door,  and 
went  in,  shutting  it  after  her.  Presently  we 
heard  her  striking  a  match. 

Half  an  hour  later  the  table  was  set,  the 
cabin  lamps  shone  brightly  upon  the  white 
cloth,  and  there  came  Swigot  and  the  doctor, 
the  latter  looking  much  the  worse  for  wear, 
bearing  smoking  dishes  from  the  galley.  Car 
rol  came  in  next,  and  last  of  all  Brandreth  and 
Kelsey.  The  latter  had  wet  and  slicked  down 
his  spare  hairs  for  the  occasion  and  Brandreth 
had  gone  so  far  as  to  shave  his  beard. 

Carrol  seated  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
table,  forcing  Bessie  to  sit  at  -his  right  hand. 
Lichee,  his  eyes  heavy  witn  sleep,  came  next 
to  his  mother;  then  Kelsey,  Brandreth,  my- 


241 

self,  the  doctor  and  Swigot.  The  place  at 
Carrol's  left  was  for  Carmen,  but  she  did  not 
at  once  take  it. 

"  I  am  waiter,"  she  said,  "  I  pass  them 
dishes,  and  pass  that  wine." 

One  by  one  we  served  ourselves  from  a 
tureen  of  bean  soup  that  Carmen,  laughing 
noisily,  handed  the  rounds  of  the  table.  Then, 
stepping  to  a  kind  of  sideboard  that  had  been 
rigged,  she  took  from  it  a  bottle  of  wine, 
wrapped  in  a  napkin  and  went  once  more  the 
round  of  the  table  filling  the  men's  glasses. 

"  Good  girl,"  said  Carrol,  "  good  girl.  And 
now  my  happy  family  —  here  's  luck!  " 

He  tossed  off  his  glass  of  wine  at  one  gulp 
and  held  it  out  to  Carmen  to  be  refilled. 
Warmed  by  the  generous  liquor,  he  laughed 
aloud,  and  catching  Carmen  playfully  round 
the  waist  drew  her  on  to  his  knee ;  she  giggled, 
resisted,  but  went  to  him  willingly  enough, 
as  it  seemed. 

"  That  wine  smells  funny  to  me,"  said  the 
little  doctor. 

"  Were  you  speaking  to  me,"  I  said  coldly. 
"  I  did  n't  taste  it." 

"  Nor  I,"  said  he,  "  it 's  gone  bad." 

Swigot  rose  suddenly  from  his  place. 

"  I  feel  kind  'er  giddy,"  he  said.     "  It 's  the 


242     YELLOW    MEN   AND    GOLD 

smell  of  the  lamps."  He  went  out  into  the 
fresh  air. 

"  Funny,"  said  Kelsey,  "  /  feel  sort  of  giddy 
—  I  've  got  a  gripe  in  me  stummick." 

From  her  perch  on  Carrol's  knee  Carmen 
smiled  toward  the  speaker. 

"Maybe,"  she  said,  "  you  take  one  two 
drop  Spirit  of  Lavender,  you  feel  better.  You 
not  remember?  You  have  little  bottle  label 
Spirit  of  Lavender? ' 

Kelsey  rose  to  his  feet  with  a  sharp  cry  of 
terror  and  anguish. 

'  What 's  the  matter,"  cried  Carrol  sharply. 

"  The  matter ! "  cried  Kelsey.  "  My  God  — 
my  God  —  the  slut  has  poisoned  us,  and  we 
are  all  dead  men." 

"Is  that  true?"  cried  Carrol  in  an  awful 
voice.  He  rose,  unsteadily,  casting  Carmen 
violently  from  him. 

"  True,"  she  said,  "  it  is  as  true  as  Roy 
Cunningham  look  down  from  heaven  know 
— you  have  drunk,  an'  you  an'  you,  an'  now 
your  dam'  soul  go  howling  into  hell." 

Carrol  caught  up  the  empty  bottle  of  wine 
by  the  neck  and,  swinging  it  over  his  shoulder, 
hurled  it  with  frightful  velocity  into  the  wo 
man's  face.  She  dropped  with  a  sound  of 
shattered  glass  and  — 


SPIRITS    OF   LAVENDER        243 

"  Go  first,"  he  shouted,  and  the  next  second 
I  had  felled  him  with  the  chair  upon  which  I 
had  been  sitting,  and  snatching  a  blunt  knife 
from  the  table  forced  it  somehow  through  his 
right  eye  into  his  brain. 

Then  I  rose,  still  howling  like  a  wild  beast 
with  fury  and  horror;  but  there  was  no  need 
of  any  further  effort.  Kelsey  and  Brandreth 
were  in  convulsions  on  the  floor;  Swigot  had 
not  come  back,  and  was  undoubtedly  suffering 
his  last  throes,  like  a  poisoned  rat,  in  some 
corner  of  the  ship.  The  doctor  alone,  who 
had  not  touched  the  wine,  sat  stiffly  in  his 
place.  He  was  blue  with  fear.  Bessie,  hold 
ing  Lichee  by  the  hand,  had  backed  against 
the  wall.  Carmen  had  not  moved. 

Gradually  the  horrid  sounds  that  came  from 
my  throat  ceased ;  and  I  ran  to  Bessie,  sobbing 
aloud,  as  a  child  runs  to  its  nurse. 

"Buck  up,  Jim!"  she  said,  "buck  up! 
We  're  not  out  of  the  woods  yet.  Never  mind 
—  there.  You  look  out  for  Lichee,  and  I  '11 
clean  the  slate." 

She  darted  around  the  table  and  caught  the 
little  doctor  by  the  shoulders,  and  dragged  him 
from  his  chair. 

"  Now  my  little  bomb,"  she  cried,  "  you  've 
burst  once  on  this  ship  and  done  quite  some 


244     YELLOW   MEN    AND    GOLD 

damage,  but  you  '11  never  burst  again.  Over 
board  you  go ! "  and  she  began  to  force  him 
toward  the  cabin  door.  They  disappeared, 
struggling  violently,  the  strong  deep-chested 
woman,  and  the  weak  spindle-shanked  man. 
One  wild  cry  rang  in  my  ears. 

A  moment  later  Bessie,  breathing  hard, 
stood  once  more  beside  me. 

"Jim,"  she  said,  "it's  all  over  now,  and 
unless  you  and  Lichee  and  I  play  each  other 
false — why  all's  well.  The  money's  ours 
now  —  and  there  ought  to  be  bright  days 
coming  to  us  all.  Lichee,  you  monkey,  you 
be  fine,  rich  Melican  man  some  day.  And  Jim 
-Jim-" 

Here  Bessie  broke  down  and  sobbed,  and  I, 
catching  her  in  my  arms,  had  at  that  moment 
no  memory  of  any  other  woman. 


THE  END 


A     000816435     2 


